Study of imaging performance of mouse eyes based on optical coherence tomography and ray tracing techniques

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an indispensable diagnostic tool in ophthalmology which can provide cross-sectional anatomic and functional information of the eyes. For analysis of the optical imaging performance of the eye, the ZEMAX ray tracing software can be used to establish the refractive model and to simulate the light spot and wavefront in ocular fundus. In our study, by combination of OCT and ray tracing technique, the imaging performance of mouse eye was evaluated and the central and peripheral image qualities were quantitatively analyzed. The whole mouse eyes were imaged by a customized OCT system and the OCT images were corrected for distortions caused by the refraction of light on the ocular surface. Parameters of mouse eye, both at central and peripheral areas, including corneal thickness, radius of curvature, lens thickness, etc., were then measured. Finally, the imaging performance of the ophthalmology system was evaluated by using ZEMAX software for ray tracing. The light spot size, the defocus blur parameter and the wavefront aberration were quantitatively evaluated. Our study may provide a method for research on myopia and hyperopia.