Open Access

David Harings, Niklas Bauer, Damian Mendroch, Uwe Oberheide, Holger Lubatschowski

• This paper presents a method for dynamically controlling the gaze movement of patients during ophthalmic examinations, specifically using infrared funduscopy and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) to gather retinal information essential for glaucoma screenings. By using the patient's natural eye movements, this system eliminates the need for traditional precise scanning mirrors used in conventional OCT devices, which typically direct the OCT laser beam across the retina to produce A-scans. In this approach, the OCT laser beam remains fixed while the patient is guided to follow a predetermined pattern on a display with their eyes. This method effectively uses the patient’s eye movements to replace the functionality of scanning mirrors. By tracking the position of the eye in real time, the system ensures that the specific areas of the retina are captured. This technique not only provides a cost-effective alternative to traditional OCT systems but also enhances patient comfort by involving them actively in the process, reducing the need to fixate on a single point. During the examination, the system evaluates each measurement point, and the scan patterns can be adjusted if necessary to ensure comprehensive diagnostic data acquisition. The resulting positions are assigned to the OCT A-scans. This allows the optic nerve B-scans typical for glaucoma examinations to be created in the evaluation. The system is characterized by the fact that it enables flexible adjustments to the imaging patterns in real-time, based on which areas of the eye have already been captured and which still require examination. The setup mainly uses commercially available components to create a cost-effective alternative to conventional, often price-intensive diagnostic devices. This method has the potential to be important not only for the improved diagnosis and monitoring of eye diseases, including glaucoma, but also offers prospects for wider application in preventive eye health care.