Methods and Apparatus for Retinal Retroreflection Imaging

摘要

A video camera captures images of retroreflection from the retina of an eye. These images are captured while the eye rotates. Thus, different images are captured in different rotational positions of the eye. A computer calculates, for each image, the eye's direction of gaze. In turn, the direction of gaze is used to calculate the precise location of a small region of the retina at which the retroflection occurs. A computer calculates a digital image of a portion of the retina by summing data from multiple retroreflection images. The digital image of the retina may be used for many practical applications, including medical diagnosis and biometric identification. In some scenarios, the video camera captures detailed images of the retina of a subject, while the subject is so far away that the rest of the subject's face is below the diffraction limit of the camera.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
(a) a camera capturing, while an eye of a subject rotates, a set of retinal retroreflection images (RR images) of the retina of the eye, such that rotational position of the eye varies from image to image in the set of images; and (b) one or more computers calculating, for each respective image in the set of RR images
(i) direction of gaze of the eye when the respective image was captured, and(ii) the position of a retinal retroflection region (RR region) that reflected light, which light comprises a retinal retroflection recorded in the respective image.