Method and Apparatus for Motion Correction and Image Enhancement for Optical Coherence Tomography

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This invention provides methods and apparatus for correcting motion artifacts and enhancing image quality in optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging, particularly for volumetric (3D) scans such as those used in eye examinations. When either the patient or the imaging device moves during scanning, distortions and gaps can appear in the images. The invention uses mathematical techniques to estimate and correct for these movements by processing overlapping 3D data sets acquired with different scan patterns. Through advanced algorithms, the system aligns, corrects, and merges these data sets to create a high-quality, motion-corrected 3D image representing the true structure of the object being scanned.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Ophthalmology: Producing accurate, undistorted images of the retina, optic nerve head, and other eye structures to improve diagnosis and monitoring of diseases like glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration.
• Quantitative analysis: Enabling reproducible measurements (e.g., retinal layer thickness) over time, which is essential for disease progression tracking and therapy response.
• Handheld or portable OCT imaging: Allowing reliable scans even when patient or operator movement is likely, such as in infants, disabled patients, or in home-use devices.
• OCT imaging of other tissues: Improving accuracy in other medical, biological, or industrial applications where object movement during scanning is problematic.
• Research: Enhancing statistical significance in animal studies or clinical trials by reducing measurement error due to motion.
• Longer and larger scans: Making possible the use of extended scan times or larger areas without increased risk of image degradation from motion.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Removes or reduces motion-induced distortions and filling of data gaps in 3D OCT images without requiring additional expensive hardware or external reference images.
• Improves accuracy, quality, and reproducibility of OCT-based diagnostics and quantitative measurements.
• Enables acquisition and merging of larger or longer-scan datasets, leading to better signal-to-noise ratios, reduced speckle noise, and more complete anatomical information.
• Applies to a wide range of applications including clinical, research, and potential consumer/home-use scenarios.
• Reduces operator and patient burden by tolerating more motion during scanning, especially beneficial for handheld and portable devices.
• Facilitates robust longitudinal (over time) analysis by enabling reliable registration of multiple datasets collected at different visits or time points.

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Patent Abstract

Images of an object, such as OCT scans of a human eye, can include distortions and data gaps due to relative motion of the object and the image acquisition device. Methods and systems for correction of such distortions and data gaps are described herein. Motion-corrected data is arrived at by applying three-dimensional transforms to input three-dimensional data sets that represent at least partially overlapping regions of the imaged object. The three dimensional transforms are computed based on an objective function that accounts for similarity between the transformed three-dimensional data sets and the estimated motion of the object relative to an imaging instrument. Methods and systems described herein advantageously eliminate the need for postulated assumptions and reliance on landmarks and are capable of filling data gaps, thereby producing high quality, undistorted images of objects subject to movement during imaging. Multiple motion-corrected data sets can be merged or combined to produce a data set with improved image quality.