The Ultra-widefield (UWF) handheld optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems are destined to transform the clinical retinal diagnostic landscape. However, many engineering challenges have been slowing down the progress in this field. The latest paper by Shuibin Ni et al., co-authored by the NIH NEI director Michael F. Chiang and researchers from Oregon Health & Science University, and Simon Fraser University led by Yifan Jian, describes their UWF handheld OCT system offering several improvements over previously reported solutions. The instrument built by Shuibin Ni et al. offers the widest single shot field of view (FOV) of 105° in a portable non-contact design. This was achieved by the novel design of the imaging telescope located between the slow axis of the galvanometer scanner and the patient eye. The presented design combines negative achromatic doublets with an advanced, custom anti-reflection coating for infrared range, double aspheric lens (90 Dpt.) used as the ocular lens. Additionally, their OCT engine is equipped with a 400-kHz VCSEL light source and implements a spiral scanning pattern allowing real-time visualization with improved scanning efficiency. Other details about system design, its performance, and several impressive examples of using the instrument in clinical settings are provided. We can be sure that the several novel features reported here will find their way into future commercial handheld OCT systems bringing the whole field closer to achieving its full clinical potential.

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