IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,721,520
Granted Patent B2
US 12,721,520 · App. 18/540,256 · Granted Sep 1, 2026

Meta-optics-based systems and methods for ocular applications

Inventors: Juejun Hu (Newton, MA); Tian Gu (Fairfax, VA); Mikhail Shalaginov (Somerville, MA); Fan Yang (Cambridge, MA)
Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A61B3/14A61B3/12G02B1/002G02B27/0093G02B27/0172G06F3/013A61B3/113G02B2027/0123G02B2027/0147
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,721,520
App. No.
18/540,256
Granted
Sep 1, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Meta-lens based ocular imaging, near-eye display, and eye-tracking systems are described. The systems can include a single focusing optic and an integrated circuit that provides illumination light and includes an imaging array. The focusing optic includes meta-atoms formed on a substrate. The systems may have no moving parts and achieve imaging or image-projection fields-of-view approaching or exceeding 180 degrees. Because of their low part count, the systems can be robust and have a very small form factor.

Claims (44)

1 . A method of projecting an image or pattern into an eye with a display system that comprises a source of an image or pattern and a meta-surface, the method comprising:

forming an image or pattern projected from the source around an interior portion of an eye with the meta-surface, wherein:

the meta-surface comprises meta-atoms disposed on a substrate;

the image or pattern projected into the eye covers a field-of-view of at least 70 degrees around an interior of the eye; and

the meta-atoms comprise:

a plurality of cylindrical pillars disposed on a substrate, wherein the plurality of cylindrical pillars have at least eight different diameters less than the wavelength of light used to form the image or pattern and impart phase delays in a range from at least 50 degrees to 300 degrees to the light.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the pupil of the eye as an aperture stop in the display system.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate has at least one curved surface.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises at least one of sapphire, silica, calcium fluoride, chalcogenide, glass, semiconductor, or polymer.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the meta-atoms are formed from at least one of a dielectric, semiconductor, or metal.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the meta-atoms comprise meta-atoms of at least two different shapes or sizes that are repeated across the substrate.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing multiplexed optical functions with at least a portion of the meta-atoms located in a same area of the meta-surface.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein providing multiplexed optical functions comprises:

illuminating a first region of the eye or projecting the image or pattern to the eye as a first optical function of the multiplexed optical functions; and

forming an image of the first region or of a second region of the eye as a second optical function of the multiplexed optical functions.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the meta-atoms are first meta-atoms, and further comprising:

receiving, with a meta-optical element having second meta-atoms, optical rays from the meta-surface;

redirecting the optical rays, with the meta-optical element, to participate in forming the image or pattern; and

providing multiplexed optical functions with at least some of the second meta-atoms that are located in a same area of a meta-surface of the meta-optical element.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the source comprises a light emitter, an emitter array or a micro-display.

11 . A method of projecting an image or pattern into an eye with a display system that comprises a source of an image or pattern and a meta-surface, the method comprising:

forming an image or pattern projected from the source around an interior portion of an eye with the meta-surface, wherein:

the meta-surface comprises meta-atoms disposed on a substrate, and

the image or pattern projected into the eye covers a field-of-view of at least 70 degrees around an interior of the eye;

receiving, with at least one optical element in the display system, optical rays from the meta-surface; and

redirecting the optical rays, by the at least one optical element, to participate in forming the image or pattern, wherein the at least one optical element comprises a meta-optic, a diffractive optical element, a holographic optical elements, a beam splitter, a refractive or reflective optic, or a waveguide.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

combining, by the at least one optical element, the image or pattern from the source with other optical beams or a second image or pattern; and

projecting a combination of the image or pattern and the other optical beams or the second image or pattern to the eye.

13 . A method comprising:

emitting illumination light with an emitter;

projecting, with a first meta-surface located a first distance from a pupil of an eye, a pattern of the illumination light onto the eye, wherein:

the first meta-surface comprises a first plurality of meta-atoms disposed on a surface of a first substrate, and;

the first plurality of meta-atoms comprise:

a plurality of cylindrical pillars disposed on a substrate, wherein the plurality of cylindrical pillars have at least eight different diameters less than the wavelength of the illumination light used to form the pattern and impart phase delays in a range from at least 50 degrees to 300 degrees to the illumination light;

imaging, with a second meta-surface located a second distance from the pupil, a region of the eye illuminated by the pattern, wherein the second meta-surface comprises a second plurality of meta-atoms; and

recording an image of the region of the eye.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein a first area occupied by the first plurality of meta-atoms at least partially overlaps a second area occupied by the second plurality of meta-atoms.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising providing multiplexed optical functions with at least the first plurality of meta-atoms.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the second meta-surface is formed on a surface of a second substrate that is separated from the first substrate.

17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein at least the first meta-surface lies on a curved surface.

18 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising tracking movement of the eye based on at least the image of the region of the eye.

19 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising determining at least one of a gazing point of the eye, an orientation of the eye, or a position of the eye based on at least the image of the region of the eye.

20 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the image of the region of the eye comprises an image of at least one of a retina, pupil, palpebral, scleral, pars-planar, or iris of the eye.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 8, 2024
From: HU, JUEJUN; GU, TIAN; SHALAGINOV, MIKHAIL; YANG, FAN
To: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Reel/Frame 066053/0595 →
Continuity (4)
Continuation 17556884 · Dec 20, 2021
Continuation 17164425 · Feb 1, 2021
Provisional Application 63003782 · Apr 1, 2020
Related Publication 20240122473A1 · Apr 18, 2024
References Cited (107)
US 3085469A · Carlson · 1963 [cited by applicant]
US 4061423A · Pomerantzeff · 1977 [cited by applicant]
US 9295388B2 · Lawson et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 10408416B2 · Khorasaninejad et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10408419B2 · Aieta et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10591643B2 · Lin et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 10591746B2 · Macinnis · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 10979635B2 · Hu et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 11206978B2 · Hu et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 11850001B2 · Hu · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20130057828A1 · De · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20130091515A1 · Sakata · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 20150131050A1 · Bublitz · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20150289762A1 · Popovich et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160296112A1 · Fletcher et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20170010466A1 · Klug et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170082263A1 · Byrnes et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170109562A1 · Shroff et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170307857A1 · Ning · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20180275409A1 · Gao · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20190044003A1 · Heck et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190049632A1 · Shin et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190113775A1 · Jang et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190196068A1 · Tsai et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190369401A1 · Rolland · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20200081294A1 · You et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200241301A1 · Basset · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200400943A1 · Kessler · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20210003900A1 · Chen · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210306564A1 · Hu et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20240337850A1 · Gao · 2024 [cited by examiner]
CN 107533362A · 2018 [cited by applicant]
CN 108882845A · 2018 [cited by applicant]
CN 110891533A · 2020 [cited by applicant]
WO 2018204856A1 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
WO 2019006076A1 · 2019 [cited by applicant]
WO 2019119025A1 · 2019 [cited by applicant]
WO 2019148200A1 · 2019 [cited by applicant]
WO 2019165620A1 · 2019 [cited by applicant]
A Comprehensive List of 3D Sensors Commonly Leveraged in ROS Development. ROS-Industrial. Accessed at https://rosindustrial.org/3d-camera-survey on Sep. 12, 2019, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
Aieta et al., “Aberration-free ultrathin flat lenses and axicons at telecom wavelengths based on plasmonic metasurfaces.” Nano letters 12.9 (2012): 4932-4936. [cited by applicant]
Aieta et al., “Aberrations of flat lenses and aplanatic metasurfaces.” Optics express 21.25 (2013): 31530-31539. [cited by applicant]
Alu et al., Honorary issue for Federico Capasso on “Metamaterials & Metasurfaces”. Nanophotonics 7, (2018). 311 pages. [cited by applicant]
An et al., “A Novel Modeling Approach for All-Dielectric Metasurfaces Using Deep Neural Networks.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.03387 (2019). 18 pages. [cited by applicant]
An et al., “Generative Multi-Functional Meta-Atom and Metasurface Design Networks.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1908.04851 (2019). 17 pages. [cited by applicant]
Arbabi et al., “Miniature optical planar camera based on a wide-angle metasurface doublet corrected for monochromatic aberrations.” Nature communications 7.1 (2016): 1-9. [cited by applicant]
Arbabi et al., “Multiwavelength metasurfaces through spatial multiplexing.” Scientific reports 6 (2016): 32803. 8 pages. [cited by applicant]
Capasso, “The future and promise of flat optics: a personal perspective.” Nanophotonics 7.6 (2018): 953-957. [cited by applicant]
Chen et al., “A broadband achromatic metalens for focusing and imaging in the visible.” Nature nanotechnology13.3 (2018): 220-226. [cited by applicant]
Dehoog et al., “Fundus camera systems: a comparative analysis.” Applied optics 48.2 (2009): 221-228. [cited by applicant]
Du et al., “Stencil lithography for scalable micro-and nanomanufacturing.” Micromachines 8.4 (2017): 131, 24 pages. [cited by applicant]
Engelberg et al., “Near-IR wide-field-of-view Huygens metalens for outdoor imaging applications.” Nanophotonics 9.2 (2020): 361-370. [cited by applicant]
Eye Tracking Market worth $1,786 million by 2025. Markets and Markets. Accessed at https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/eye-tracking.asp on Sep. 11, 2020. 5 pages. [cited by applicant]
Fierson et al., “Telemedicine for evaluation of retinopathy of prematurity.” Pediatrics 135.1 (2015): e238-e254. 19 pages. [cited by applicant]
Genevet et al., “Recent advances in planar optics: from plasmonic to dielectric metasurfaces.” Optica 4.1 (2017): 139-152. [cited by applicant]
Gissibl et al., “Two-photon direct laser writing of ultracompact multi-lens objectives.” Nature Photonics 10.8 (2016): 554-560. [cited by applicant]
Groever et al., “Meta-lens doublet in the visible region.” Nano letters 17.8 (2017): 4902-4907. [cited by applicant]
Grunnet-Jepsen et al., “Best-Known-Methods for Tuning Intel® RealSense™ D400 Depth Cameras for Best Performance.” Intel Corporation: Satan Clara, CA, USA 1 (2018). 10 pages. [cited by applicant]
Heaney, Hololens 2's Field of View Revealed. UploadVR Feb. 25, 2019. Accessed at https://uploadvr.com/hololens-2-field-of-view/ on Aug. 20, 2019, 10 pages. [cited by applicant]
Hu et al., “Demonstration of a-Si metalenses on a 12-inch glass wafer by CMOS-compatible technology.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.11764 (2019). 6 pages. [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion in International Patent Application No. PCT/US2021/016064 mailed May 6, 2021, 10 pages. [cited by applicant]
JDC Micro LED Start Kit. Jasper Display Corp. Accessed at https://www.jasperdisplay.com/products/micro-led-start-kit/ on Aug. 20, 2019, 3 pages. [cited by applicant]
Kamali et al., “A review of dielectric optical metasurfaces for wavefront control.” Nanophotonics 7.6 (2018): 1041-1068. [cited by applicant]
Kamali et al., “Decoupling optical function and geometrical form using conformal flexible dielectric metasurfaces.” Nature communications 7.1 (2016): 1-7. [cited by applicant]
Kar et al., “A review and analysis of eye-gaze estimation systems, algorithms and performance evaluation methods in consumer platforms.” IEEE Access 5 (2017): 16495-16519. [cited by applicant]
Kerker et al., “Electromagnetic scattering by magnetic spheres.” JOSA 73.6 (1983): 765-767. [cited by applicant]
Khorasaninejad et al., “Metalenses at visible wavelengths: Diffraction-limited focusing and subwavelength resolution imaging.” Science 352.6290 (2016): 1190-1194. [cited by applicant]
Khorasaninejad et al., “Metalenses: Versatile multifunctional photonic components.” Science 358.6367 (2017): eaam8100. 10 pages. [cited by applicant]
Kress et al., “A review of head-mounted displays (HMD) technologies and applications for consumer electronics.” Photonic Applications for Aerospace, Commercial, and Harsh Environments IV. vol. 8720. International Societ… [cited by applicant]
Kuznetsov et al., “Optically resonant dielectric nanostructures.” Science 354.6314 (2016): aag2472. 10 pages. [cited by applicant]
Lalanne et al., “Blazed binary subwavelength gratings with efficiencies larger than those of conventional échelette gratings.” Optics letters 23.14 (1998): 1081-1083. [cited by applicant]
Lalanne et al., “Metalenses at visible wavelengths: past, present, perspectives.” Laser & Photonics Reviews 11.3 (2017): 1600295. 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
Lee et al., Metasurface eyepiece for augmented reality. Nat Commun 9, 4562 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07011-5. 10 pages. [cited by applicant]
Li et al. “Metalens-based miniaturized optical systems.” Micromachines 10.5 (2019): 310, 21 pages. [cited by applicant]
Maguid et al., “Photonic spin-controlled multifunctional shared-aperture antenna array.” Science 352.6290 (2016): 1202-1206. [cited by applicant]
Metalenz Inc. Accessed at https://www.metalenz.com/ on Apr. 29, 2020. 2 pages. [cited by applicant]
Monochromatic 2.5-um pitch (10K DPI) 1080P MicroLED Display. Jade Bird Display. Accessed at https://www.jb-display.com/2-5-um-pitch on Sep. 12, 2019, 1 page. [cited by applicant]
Nagiel et al., “Ultra-widefield fundus imaging: a review of clinical applications and future trends.” Retina 36.4 (2016): 660-678. [cited by applicant]
Optos Products. Accessed at https://www.optos.com/en/products/ on Sep. 11, 2020. 27 pages. [cited by applicant]
Panwar et al., “Fundus photography in the 21st century—a review of recent technological advances and their implications for worldwide healthcare.” Telemedicine and e-Health 22.3 (2016): 198-208. [cited by applicant]
Patel et al., “Ultra-widefield retinal imaging: an update on recent advances.” Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology 12 (2020): 2515841419899495. 12 pages. [cited by applicant]
Pe'Er et al., “Measurement of choroidal melanoma basal diameter by wide-angle digital fundus camera: a comparison with ultrasound measurement.” Ophthalmologica 220.3 (2006): 194-197. [cited by applicant]
Pugh et al., “Screening for diabetic retinopathy: the wide-angle retinal camera.” Diabetes care 16.6 (1993): 889-895. [cited by applicant]
Shalaginov et al., “A single-layer panoramic metalens with> 170 {\deg} diffraction-limited field of view.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1908.03626 (2019). 14 pages. [cited by applicant]
Shalaginov et al., “High-index-contrast dielectric metasurface optics for MWIR imaging (Conference Presentation).” Advanced Optics for Imaging Applications: UV through LWIR IV. vol. 10998. International Society for Opti… [cited by applicant]
Shrestha et al., “Broadband achromatic dielectric metalenses.” Light: Science & Applications 7.1 (2018): 1-11. [cited by applicant]
Staurenghi et al., “Scanning laser ophthalmoscopy and angiography with a wide-field contact lens system.” Archives of Ophthalmology 123.2 (2005): 244-252. [cited by applicant]
Structured Light Took Kit. GitHub. Accessed at https://github.com/jhdewitt/sltk; first commit on Feb. 28, 2017; latest commit on Apr. 4, 2018, 5 pages. [cited by applicant]
Toslak et al., “Near-infrared light-guided miniaturized indirect ophthalmoscopy for nonmydriatic wide-field fundus photography.” Optics letters 43.11 (2018): 2551-2554. [cited by applicant]
Toslak et al., “Trans-palpebral illumination: an approach for wide-angle fundus photography without the need for pupil dilation.” Optics letters 41.12 (2016): 2688-2691. [cited by applicant]
Toslak et al., Trans-pars-planar illumination enables a 200° ultra-wide field pediatric fundus camera for easy examination of the retina. Biomedical Optics Express 11.1 (2020): 68-76. [cited by applicant]
Tseng et al., Metalenses: Advances and Applications. Adv. Opt. Mater. 6, 1-16 (2018). 16 pages. [cited by applicant]
Ultra-Wide Field Retinal Imaging Device. Nikon. Accessed at https://www.nikon.com/about/technology/product/retinal-imaging/index.htm on Sep. 14, 2020. 5 pages. [cited by applicant]
Wang et al., “Broadband achromatic optical metasurface devices.” Nature communications 8.1 (2017): 1-9. [cited by applicant]
Wang et al., “Computational protein design with deep learning neural networks.” Scientific reports 8.1 (2018): 1-9. [cited by applicant]
Wang et al., “Contact-free trans-pars-planar illumination enables snapshot fundus camera for nonmydriatic wide field photography.” Scientific reports 8.1 (2018): 1-9. [cited by applicant]
Wang et al., “Room-temperature oxygen sensitization in highly textured, nanocrystalline PbTe films: A mechanistic study.” Journal of Applied Physics 110.8 (2011): 083719. 9 pages. [cited by applicant]
Wang et al., “Structural, electrical, and optical properties of thermally evaporated nanocrystalline PbTe films.” Journal of applied physics 104.5 (2008): 053707. 6 pages. [cited by applicant]
Witmer et al., “Comparison of ultra-widefield fluorescein angiography with the Heidelberg Spectralis® noncontact ultra-widefield module versus the Optos® Optomap®.” Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, NZ) 7 (2013): 389. 6… [cited by applicant]
Wu et al., “RetCam imaging for retinopathy of prematurity screening.” Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus 10.2 (2006): 107-111. [cited by applicant]
Yu et al., “Light propagation with phase discontinuities: generalized laws of reflection and refraction.” science 334.6054 (2011): 333-337. [cited by applicant]
Zhang et al., “Electrically Reconfigurable Nonvolatile Metasurface Using Optical Phase Change Materials.” CLEO: Science and Innovations. Optical Society of America, 2019. 2 pages. [cited by applicant]
Zhang et al., “Ultra-thin high-efficiency mid-infrared transmissive Huygens meta-optics.” Nature communications 9.1 (2018): 1-9. [cited by applicant]
Zhong et al., “Large-area metalens directly patterned on a 12-inch glass wafer using immersion lithography for mass production.” Optical Fiber Communication Conference. Optical Society of America, 2020. 3 pages. [cited by applicant]
Zhou et al., “Multilayer noninteracting dielectric metasurfaces for multiwavelength metaoptics.” Nano letters 18.12 (2018): 7529-7537. [cited by applicant]
Extended European Search Report in European App. No. 21780395.6 dated Feb. 27, 2024, 7 pages. [cited by applicant]
First Office Action with Search Report and translation in Chinese App. No.202180039349.4 dated May 30, 2026, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]