Apparatus and method for characterizing biomechanical properties of eye tissue

摘要

The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for evaluating the condition and properties of eye tissue. More particularly, the present invention is directed to apparatus and methods for non-invasively characterizing the biomechanical properties of eye tissue by utilizing an internal perturbation component.

主权项

1. An apparatus for characterizing biomechanical properties of blood vessels in the retina of a subject's eye tissue comprising:
a light source that transmits a light beam to illuminate the subject's eye tissue, wherein the light beam is reflected from the eye tissue, and wherein the light beam carries an image of blood vessels in the retina of the eye tissue; a lens that focuses the reflected light beam; a first imaging pathway that focuses a first image from a first viewing angle; a first detector that detects the first focused image; a second imaging pathway that focuses a second image from a second viewing angle; a second detector that detects the second focused image, wherein the first and the second detected focused images produce a three-dimensional map; a measurement device that measures the subject's blood pressure; and a computer that analyzes a first three-dimensional map of images captured during a systolic phase of the subject and a second three-dimensional map of images captured during a diastolic phase of the subject, and wherein the computer calculates strain of the blood vessels in the retina of the eye tissue from the two three-dimensional maps of images.