Anterior Eye OCT-based Profiler for Automating Ocular Surface Prosthetic Fitting

The use of a Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Environment (PROSE) device is a revolutionary treatment for military patients that have lost their eyelids due to 3rd degree facial burns as well as for civilians who suffer from a host of corneal diseases. However, custom manual fitting is often a protracted painful, inexact process that requires multiple fitting sessions. Training for new practitioners is a long process. Automated methods to measure the complete corneal and scleral topology would provide a valuable tool for both clinicians and PROSE device manufacturers and would help streamline the fitting process. After successfully completing the Phase I program feasibility study, Physical Sciences, Inc. proposes to further develop the OCT-based anterior eye segment profiler. A clinical prototype of the profiler will be designed and built based on the approach demonstrated in the Phase I program. The optical head containing the scanning hardware and optics will be designed such that it can be mounted both on a slit lamp and on a mobile arm attachable to a bed for imaging supine patients. Further refinements in Phase II will allow for clinical testing of the device on human subjects.