SBIR-STTR Award

Out primary goal is to create a video based pachometry system that offers accuracy better than that achieved by current state-of-the-art optical pachometry systems found in today's research laboratories. In addition, the system will be inexpensive by offering it as an attachment to common clinical slit-lamps/biomicroscope instruments using off the shelf video/computer components. With our system the reliability of measurement will improve dramatically compared to current optical measures and compare favorably with ultrasound methods. This improvement will be accomplished by removing the subjective psychophysical judgment stage of measurement and thereby also reducing operator training. A variety of image processing techniques will be applied to short video segments of the cornea to objectively determine corneal thickness. The computer based system will include a user-friendly interface to simplify measurement once the patient is properly aligned in the biomicroscope. A user-friendly interface has a secondary benefit in that it will be appropriate for use in classroom/lab settings where students would not ordinarily have time for the training needed for reliable measurements using a standard optical pachometer.National Eye Institute (NEI)

___(NOTE: Note: no official Abstract exists of this Phase II projects. Abstract is modified by idi from relevant Phase I data. The specific Phase II work statement and objectives may differ)___ Out primary goal is to create a video based pachometry system that offers accuracy better than that achieved by current state-of-the-art optical pachometry systems found in today's research laboratories. In addition, the system will be inexpensive by offering it as an attachment to common clinical slit-lamps/biomicroscope instruments using off the shelf video/computer components. With our system the reliability of measurement will improve dramatically compared to current optical measures and compare favorably with ultrasound methods. This improvement will be accomplished by removing the subjective psychophysical judgment stage of measurement and thereby also reducing operator training. A variety of image processing techniques will be applied to short video segments of the cornea to objectively determine corneal thickness. The computer based system will include a user-friendly interface to simplify measurement once the patient is properly aligned in the biomicroscope. A user-friendly interface has a secondary benefit in that it will be appropriate for use in classroom/lab settings where students would not ordinarily have time for the training needed for reliable measurements using a standard optical pachometer.National Eye Institute (NEI)