In ophthalmologic imaging, the optical properties of the retina are essential parameters. The retina’s refractive index (RI) determines the light propagation inside the tissue towards the photoreceptors and its spatial distribution reflects biophysical tissue properties. In addition, information about the RI’s wavelength dependency is crucial for optical imaging, as it has to be considered, e.g., for dispersion compensation in high resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT). However, the spatial RI distribution in retinal tissue is difficult to access. We explored the capabilities of quantitative phase imaging (QPI) for RI characterization of murine retina utilizing digital holographic microscopy (DHM). Multispectral QPI was achieved by a Michelson interferometer-based DHM configuration that was combined with the light from a tunable supercontinuum laser light source.

Date Published: 21 June 2019
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 11060, Optical Methods for Inspection, Characterization, and Imaging of Biomaterials IV, 110600C (21 June 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2526048

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 11060:
Optical Methods for Inspection, Characterization, and Imaging of Biomaterials IV
Pietro Ferraro; Simonetta Grilli; Monika Ritsch-Marte; Christoph K. Hitzenberger, Editor(s)