Methods, systems and computer program products for dynamic optical histology using optical coherence tomography

1. A method of deriving and displaying an image, the method comprising:

deriving a first boundary surface from a volumetric image using a process of layer segmentation;

deriving a second boundary surface, different and spaced apart from the first boundary surface, of the volumetric image using the process of layer segmentation, the first and second boundary surfaces defining a slice of the volumetric image therebetween;

deriving a third boundary surface between the first and second boundary surfaces, wherein the third boundary surface is axially displaced from the first boundary surface in a first proportion to a local axial distance between the first and second boundary surfaces;

deriving a fourth boundary surface between the third and second boundary surfaces, wherein the fourth boundary surface is axially displaced from the second boundary surface in a second proportion to the local axial distance between the first and second boundary surfaces;

deriving at least one intermediate thin section between the third and fourth boundary surfaces, the thin section having a thickness that is less than a thickness of the slice of the volumetric image defined by the first and second boundary surfaces and excluding data between the first and third boundary surfaces and data between the fourth and second boundary surfaces;

deriving a two dimensional en face surface projection from the data within the intermediate thin section; and

displaying the en face surface projection,

wherein at least one of the deriving of the first boundary, the deriving of the second boundary and the deriving of the at least one intermediate thin section is performed by at least one processor.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the volumetric image is acquired using optical coherence tomography (OCT).

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the volumetric image is acquired using Fourier domain OCT (FDOCT).

4. A system for deriving and displaying an image, the system comprising:

an imaging system for acquiring a volumetric image;

an image processing module coupled to the imaging system, the image processing module being configured to:

derive a first boundary surface from a volumetric image using a process of layer segmentation;

derive a second boundary surface, different and spaced apart from the first boundary surface, of the volumetric image using a process of layer segmentation, the first and second boundary surfaces defining a slice of the volumetric image therebetween;

derive a third boundary surface between the first and second boundary surfaces, wherein the third boundary surface is axially displaced from the first boundary surface in a first proportion to a local axial distance between the first and second boundary surfaces;

derive a fourth boundary surface between the third and second boundary surfaces, wherein the fourth boundary surface is axially displaced from the second boundary surface in a second proportion to the local axial distance between the first and second boundary surfaces;

derive at least one intermediate thin section between the third and fourth boundary surfaces, the thin section having a thickness that is less than a thickness of the slice of the volumetric image defined by the first and second boundary surfaces and excluding data between the first and third boundary surfaces and data between the fourth and second boundary surfaces;

derive a two dimensional en face surface projection from the data within the intermediate thin section; and

display the en face surface projection.

5. The system of claim 4 , where the image acquisition system comprises an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the OCT system comprises a Fourier domain OCT (FDOCT) system.

7. A computer program product for deriving and displaying an image, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer readable program code comprising:

computer readable program code to derive a first boundary surface from a volumetric image using a process of layer segmentation;

computer readable program code configured to derive a second boundary surface, different and spaced apart from the first boundary surface, of the volumetric image using a process of layer segmentation, the first and second boundary surfaces defining a slice of the volumetric image therebetween;

computer readable program code configured to derive a third boundary surface between the first and second boundary surfaces, wherein the third boundary surface is axially displaced from the first boundary surface in a first proportion to a local axial distance between the first and second boundary surfaces;

computer readable program code configured to derive a fourth boundary surface between the third and second boundary surfaces, wherein the fourth boundary surface is axially displaced from the second boundary surface in a second proportion to the local axial distance between the first and second boundary surfaces;

computer readable program, code configured to derive at least one intermediate thin section between the third and fourth boundary surfaces, the thin section having a thickness that is less than a thickness of the slice of the volumetric image defined by the first and second boundary surfaces and excluding data between the first and third boundary surfaces and data between the fourth and second boundary surfaces;

computer readable program code to derive a two dimensional en face surface projection from the data within the intermediate thin section; and

computer readable program code to display the en face surface projection.

8. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the volumetric image is acquired using optical coherence tomography (OCT).

9. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the volumetric image is acquired using Fourier domain OCT (FDOCT).