Recognised Heidelberg Engineering has recognised the work of a research team from Germany’s University of Lübeck to “elevate retinal imaging to a new level”.
Dr Hendrik Spahr and Dr Dierck Hillmann received the 2023 Heidelberg Engineering Xtreme Research Award, for their research on holographic optical coherence tomography (HOLOOCT) and their ongoing effort to transfer this technology into clinical applications.
In their research, ‘Towards holographic OCT for clinical applications’, Drs Spahr and Hillmann demonstrated the possibilities when applying techniques from digital holography and astronomy to a laboratory full-field OCT system.
They developed advanced data processing techniques to correct for disturbances that are unavoidably introduced by eye motion.
“We initially demonstrated what is possible in OCT when using an experimental high-speed imaging system that captures all the data points more or less at once,” the team explained.
“We could suddenly correct imaging errors and use novel contrast, for example.”
With their adjustments, they were able to enhance resolution to visualise human photoreceptors in vivo with OCT.
“We can numerically correct defocus and other aberrations, allowing us to visualise the photoreceptor mosaic and other microstructures of the human retina that could otherwise not be resolved,” they said. “The ability to image the photoreceptors and other layers of the retina, and to investigate their function and response to incident light, holds immense potential for clinical diagnostics.”
