Abstract
News editors obtained the following quote from the background information suppli ed by the inventors:“In ocular imaging, proper alignment of the optical axes of the subject’s eye and the imaging optics is aprerequisite to avoid unwanted re flections quality ocular image acquisition. However, there are 12 degreesof fre edom (6 on the part of the subject’s eye, and 6 on the part of the imaging syste m, making thisa nontrivial task. Traditional approaches to achieving alignment rely on an operator manually aligningthe axes of the imaging device to that of the subject’s eye, or robotic (automated) alignment of the axesof the imaging s ystem to that of the subject’s eye. Both trained operators and robotic alignment addcost and complexity to the imaging workflow. For example, manual handheld f undus cameras require theoperator to manually position a camera in three-dimens ional space along 6 degrees of freedom, and oftenrequire an integrated screen t o view the eye, while the head of the subject is partially restrained leaving 3degrees of freedom, for a total of 9 degrees of freedom. Traditional manual desk -mounted fundus camerasrequire the operator to manually steer the camera with a joystick, 6 degrees of freedom, while the subject’seye is restrained with a ch inrest and headband as well as fixation, leaving 6 degrees of freedom in total.Automated or semi-automated fundus cameras require complex motors, additional ca meras and sensors,and built-in image processing to drive the automated alignmen t along 6 degrees of freedom, thereby addingsignificant cost, and also restrain the subject’s eye using chinrest, headband and fixation.
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