Sensorless adaptive optics optical coherence tomography (AO-OCT) is a technology to image retinal tissue with high resolution by compensating ocular aberrations without wavefront sensors. In this Letter, a fast and robust hill-climbing algorithm is developed to optimize five Zernike modes in AO-OCT with a numerical aperture between that of conventional AO and commercial OCT systems. The merit function is generated in real time using graphics processing unit while axially tracking the retinal layer of interest. A new method is proposed to estimate the largest achievable field of view for which aberrations are corrected uniformly in sensorless AO-OCT.

A polymer-stabilized (PS) blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC) with fast response time and large Kerr constant is investigated by doping a low molecular weight monomer (N-vinylpyrrollidone) into a conventional PS-BPLC consisting of BPLC, RM257, and 1,1,1-trimethylolpropane triacrylate. With this polymer network system, Kerr constant and the response can be improved simultaneously. Compared to the conventional PS-BPLC, Kerr constant of the proposed PS-BPLC can increase by 54% and the response time can decrease by 23% at the same time. The contrast ratio can be kept at a high level, over 1000:1 at λ = 633 nm.

We demonstrate a handheld swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) system with a 400 kHz vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) light source, a non-contact approach, and an unprecedented single shot 105° field of view (FOV). We also implemented a spiral scanning pattern allowing real-time visualization with improved scanning efficiency. To the best of our knowledge, this is the widest FOV achieved in a portable non-contact OCT retinal imaging system to date. Improvements to the FOV may aid the evaluation of retinal diseases such as retinopathy of prematurity, where important vitreoretinal changes often occur in the peripheral retina.

Comprehensive visualization of retina morphology is essential in the diagnosis and management of retinal diseases in pediatric populations. Conventional imaging techniques often face challenges in effectively capturing the peripheral retina, primarily due to the limitations in current optical designs, which lack the necessary field of view to characterize the far periphery. To address this gap, our study introduces a novel ultra-widefield optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) system. This system, specifically tailored for pediatric applications, incorporates an ultrahigh-speed 800 kHz swept-source laser. The system’s innovative design achieves a 140° field of view while maintaining excellent optical performance. Over the last 15 months, we have conducted 379 eye examinations on 96 babies using this system. It demonstrates marked efficacy in the diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity, providing detailed and comprehensive peripheral retinal angiography. The capabilities of the ultra-widefield handheld OCTA system in enhancing the clarity and thoroughness of retina vascularization assessments have significantly improved the precision of diagnoses and the customization of treatment strategies. Our findings underscore the system’s potential to advance pediatric ophthalmology and broaden the scope of retinal imaging.

The influence of polymer system on polymer-stabilised (PS) blue phase (BP) liquid crystal (LC) is investigated. After polymer stabilisation, anchoring energy appears between the polymer network and LC molecules, which is related with the stiffness of the polymer system. As the stiffness of polymer system decreases, the Kerr constant can be improved with the degradation of response time, hysteresis, and residual birefringence. Furthermore, the Kerr constant and response time can be improved simultaneously by polymer system with reactive diluents.

A small amount of polyaniline functionalized graphene (G–PANI, 0.03–2.00%) nanosheets was doped into conventional polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystals (PS-BPLCs), and the electro-optical property effects were studied. The driving capability of BPLCs can be much improved in that the Kerr constant of BPLCs doped with 0.05 wt% G–PANI is increased by ∼55% compared with that of BPLCs without G–PANI. Meanwhile, this composite exhibits no degradation of electro-optical properties, such as response time, hysteresis and residual birefringence.