OPHALMIC TANDEM SCANNING CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE

CANDELA LASER CORPORATION TOGETHER WITH THE CENTER FOR SIGHTOF GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY WILL DEVELOP A PRACTICAL TANDEM SCANNING CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE SYSTEM FOR CONFOCAL IMAGING OF THE EYE BY MAKING A NUMBER OF IMPROVEMENTS TO AN EXISTING PROTOTYPE SYSTEM. SPECIFICALLY, IT IS PLANNED TO: (1) IMPROVE THE OPTICAL DESIGN OF THE DEVICE TO ACHIEVE LONG-TERM OPTICAL ALIGNMENT STABILITY; (2) DEVELOP LASER-BASED MANUFACTURE OF THE ROTATING APERTURED DISK, WHICH IS THE HEART OF THE DEVICE, SO THAT THE DISK CAN BE PRODUCED IN QUANTITY WITH THE REQUIRED ACCURACY AT REASONABLE COST; AND (3) STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF USING OPTIMIZED APERTURE GEOMETRIES TO IMPROVE UNIFORMITY OF ILLUMINATION AND IMAGING OVER THE FIELD VIEW.