Abstract

We have designed a recording ophthalmoscope which requires substantially less light than conventional ophthalmoscopes or fundus cameras. A laser beam of <100-μW total power provides the flying spot on the subject’s retina, allowing an inversion of the usual division of the pupil: only the central half-millimeter is needed for illumination, and the remaining 50 mm² are used for light collection. No optical image of the retina is formed, but a photomultiplier tube in a pupillary conjugate plane provides video signals to a TV monitor, where an image appears. A simple analysis explains the gain in sensitivity. Various manipulations of the image are described, some of which are uniquely possible with this system.

© 1980 Optical Society of America

Confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope

Robert H. Webb, George W. Hughes, and Francois C. Delori
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Holocamera for 3-D micrography of the alert human eye

Allan R. Tokuda, David C. Auth, and Adam P. Bruckner
Appl. Opt. 19(13) 2219-2225 (1980)

Reflectometry with a scanning laser ophthalmoscope

Ann E. Elsner, Stephen A. Burns, George W. Hughes, and Robert H. Webb
Appl. Opt. 31(19) 3697-3710 (1992)

Compact scanning laser ophthalmoscope with high-speed retinal tracker

Daniel X. Hammer, R. Daniel Ferguson, John C. Magill, Michael A. White, Ann E. Elsner, and Robert H. Webb
Appl. Opt. 42(22) 4621-4632 (2003)

Wide-field retinal hemodynamic imaging with the tracking scanning laser ophthalmoscope

R. Daniel Ferguson, Daniel X. Hammer, Ann E. Elsner, Robert H. Webb, Stephen A. Burns, and John J. Weiter
Opt. Express 12(21) 5198-5208 (2004)