Portable optical coherence tomography (OCT) devices and related systems

1. An ophthalmic optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, comprising:

an OCT engine including optics and electronics configured to acquire data used to generate OCT images of a subject; and

a portable housing including a portable scanning interface device in communication with the OCT engine, comprising at least one mirror configured to scan light in at least two non-co-planar directions and at least one lens set coupled to the at least one mirror and configured to receive light from the at least one mirror, to focus the received light onto a structure of an eye of the subject, and to receive light that is scattered or reflected from the structure of the eye;

an optical fiber connecting the housing including the portable scanning interface device to the OCT engine, the optical fiber being configured to guide light from the OCT engine to the portable scanning interface device;

means for aligning the housing including the portable scanning interface device to the structure of the eye without using a chinrest to stabilize the subject;

means for controlling spacing between the portable interface device and the structure of the eye without using a chinrest to stabilize the subject;

means for setting acquisition parameters for imaging the structure of the eye;

means for acquiring, processing and displaying volumetric OCT image data of the structure of the eye in real-time; and

means for making the OCT images relatively insensitive to changes in the optical fiber connecting the OCT engine to the housing including the portable scanning interface device that occur during imaging without using a chinrest to stabilize the subject.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable scanning interface device comprises a non-contact probe that does not make physical contact with a sample and wherein the non-contact probe further comprises a first lens set configured for the non-contact probe.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable scanning interface device comprises a contact probe configured to make physical contact with a sample and wherein the contact probe further comprises a second lens set configured for the contact probe.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a display in the portable housing integrated with the portable scanning interface device such that the portable scanning interface device and the integrated display are configured to communicate with the OCT engine.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable scanning interface device further comprises an integrated user interface in the portable housing configured to control an operation of the portable scanning interface device in communication with the OCT engine.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the means for making the OCT images relatively insensitive to changes in the optical fiber connecting the OCT engine to the housing including the portable scanning interface comprises a reference arm and a sample arm sharing a single fiber.

7. An ophthalmic optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, the system comprising:

an OCT engine; and

a portable housing including a portable scanning interface device and an integrated display, the portable housing including the portable scanning interface device being connected to the OCT engine by at least an optical fiber and including means for making an OCT image acquired by the system relatively insensitive to changes occurring during imaging in the at least one optical fiber connecting the portable housing to the OCT engine;

wherein the means for making an OCT image acquired by the system relatively insensitive to changes does not include the use of a chinrest to stabilize a subject; and

wherein the means for making an OCT image acquired by the system relatively insensitive to changes comprises an integrated reference arm wherein a sample arm and the reference arm share a single fiber to substantially reduce distortion.

8. The OCT system of claim 7 , wherein the portable scanning interface device further comprises a user interface configured to control an operation of the OCT engine in communication with the portable scanning interface device.

9. The OCT system of claim 8 , wherein the operation comprises at least one of triggering an image acquisition, controlling a scan pattern, controlling a scan rate, and controlling an image processing option, the user interface comprising:

an image acquisition trigger configured to acquire images of the sample; and

at least one control configured to adjust a scan pattern, a scan range, a scan rate and/or image processing options.

10. The OCT system of claim 7 , wherein the display is configured to illustrate at least one of a real time image of the sample, a saved image of the sample, a system option, a system mode, and a system error message.

11. The OCT system of claim 7 , wherein the integrated display is configured to be mounted substantially perpendicular to the side of the portable scanning interface device, fold out from the side of the portable scanning interface device, or be mounted to the back of the portable scanning interface device.

12. An ophthalmic optical coherence tomography (OCT) system comprising:

a portable housing including a portable scanning interface device and a reference arm integrated with the portable scanning interface device, the portable scanning interface device and the integrated reference arm being configured to communicate with an OCT engine,

wherein the system further comprises a means for substantially reducing distortion of a resulting image; and

wherein the means for substantially reducing distortion comprises the integrated reference arm sharing a single fiber with a sample arm of the system.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the portable scanning interface device comprises a beamsplitter configured to receive light and provide a portion of the light to an optical path of the reference arm of the portable scanning interface device and provide a remaining portion of the light to an optical path of the sample.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the beamsplitter is further configured to receive light from the optical path of the reference arm of the portable scanning interface device and the optical path of the sample, recombine the light from the optical path of the reference arm and the optical path of the sample and provide the recombined light to an OCT engine in communication with the portable scanning interface device for processing.

15. An ophthalmic optical coherence tomography imaging System comprising:

an optical engine and an optical fiber in connection with the optical engine;

a display configured for real-time display of optical coherence tomography images and positioned in a portable housing; and

a portable scanning interface device configured to align to a subject without repositioning the subject, the portable scanning interface device being provided in the portable housing, the portable housing further comprising:

a connection to the optical fiber that is in connection with the optical engine;

a collimator assembly configured to receive light from the optical fiber;

at least one mirror configured to scan light directed from the collimator assembly in at least two noncoplanar directions; and

at least one lens set configured to focus light from the at least one mirror configured to scan at least two noncoplanar directions onto a structure of an eye of the subject, and to receive light that is scattered from the structure of the eye,

wherein the system further comprises a means for substantially reducing distortion of a resulting image; and

wherein the means for substantially reducing distortion comprises the integrated reference arm sharing a single fiber with a sample arm of the system.

16. The system of claim 15 :

wherein the at least one lens set of the portable scanning interface device does not make physical contact with the subject; and

wherein the at least one lens set further comprises a lens set configured for non-contact imaging of the subject eye.

17. The system of claim 15 :

wherein the at least one lens set of the portable scanning interface device is configured to make physical contact with the subject; and

wherein the at least one lens set further comprises a lens set configured for imaging the subject eye.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the portable scanning interface device is further configured to receive at least two different lens sets.

19. The system of claim 18 :

wherein the portable scanning interface device is configured to receive one of the at least two lens sets;

wherein at least one of the at least two lens set is configured to image a retina; and

wherein at least one of the at least two lens set is configured to image a cornea.

20. The system of claim 18 :

wherein the portable scanning interface device is configured to receive one of the at least two lens sets;

wherein at least one of the at least two lens set is configured to image a sample without making physical contact with the sample; and

wherein at least one of the at least two lens set is configured to image a sample with making physical contact with the sample.

21. The system of claim 15 , wherein the portable scanning interface device further comprises:

an integrated reference arm comprising a beamsplitter configured to receive light and provide a portion of the light to an optical path of the reference arm and a remaining portion of the light to the at least one mirror configured to scan light in at least two noncoplanar directions onto a structure of the eye.

22. The system of claim 15 , wherein the real-time display and the portable scanning interface device are integrated into a single cohesive unit.

23. The system of claim 15 , wherein the portable scanning interface device further comprises a user interface configured to control an operation of an OCT engine in communication with the portable scanning interface device, wherein an operation includes at least one of triggering an image acquisition, controlling a scan pattern, controlling a scan rate, and controlling an image processing option.

24. An ophthalmic optical coherence tomography (OCT) system, comprising:

an OCT engine including optics and electronics configured to acquire data used to generate OCT images of a subject; and

a portable housing including a portable scanning interface device in communication with the OCT engine, comprising at least one mirror configured to scan light in at least two non-co-planar directions and at least one lens set coupled to the at least one mirror and configured to receive light from the at least one mirror, to focus the received light onto a structure of an eye of the subject, and to receive light that is scattered or reflected from the structure of the eye;

an optical fiber connecting the housing including the portable scanning interface device to the OCT engine, the optical fiber being configured to guide light from the OCT engine to the portable scanning interface device;

means for handheld imaging of a structure of the eye in at least two non-co-planar directions, the means comprising:

means for aligning the housing including the portable scanning interface device to the structure of the eye without using a chinrest to stabilize the subject; and

means for controlling spacing between the portable interface device and the structure of the eye without using a chinrest to stabilize the subject.

25. The system of claim 24 further comprising

means for setting acquisition parameters for imaging the structure of the eye;

means for acquiring, processing and displaying OCT image data of the structure of the eye in real-time; and

means for making the OCT images relatively insensitive to changes in the optical fiber connecting the OCT engine to the housing including the portable scanning interface device that occur during imaging without using a chinrest to stabilize the subject.

26. The system of claim 24 , further comprising a display in the portable housing integrated with the portable scanning interface device such that the portable scanning interface device and the integrated display are configured to communicate with the OCT engine.

27. The system of claim 24 , wherein the portable scanning interface device further comprises an integrated user interface in the portable housing configured to control an operation of the portable scanning interface device in communication with the OCT engine.