title: Sub-micrometer axial resolution OCT forin-vivoimaging of the cellular structure of healthy and keratoconic human corneas.
abstract: Corneal degenerative conditions such as keratoconus (KC) cause progressive damage to the anterior corneal tissue and eventually severely compromise visual acuity. The ability to visualize corneal tissue damagein-vivoat cellular or sub-cellular level at different stages of development of KC and other corneal diseases, can aid the early diagnostics as well as the development of more effective treatment approaches for various corneal pathologies, including keratoconus. Here, we present the optical design of an optical coherence tomography system that can achieve 0.95 µm axial resolution in biological tissue and provide test results for the system's spatial resolution and sensitivity. Corneal images acquiredin-vivowith this system from healthy and keratoconic human subjects reveal the cellular and sub-cellular structure of the corneal epithelium, as well as the normal and abnormal structure of the Bowman's membrane and the anterior corneal stroma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L3G1, Canada; School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L3G1, Canada; Systems Design Engineering Department, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Kostadinka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bizheva
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Bingyao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: MacLelan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Olivera
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kralj
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hajialamdari
authors.affiliation: School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hileeto
authors.affiliation: School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Luigina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sorbara
keywords: (170.0110) Imaging systems; (170.4460) Ophthalmic optics and devices; (170.4500) Optical coherence tomography