Auto-aligning handheld OCT probe for pediatric retinal imaging

Handheld optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a useful imaging modality for assessing and monitoring retinal disease in pediatric patients. However, acquiring consistent and repeatable data in this population remains difficult, even with trained operators. Here we propose a novel handheld device capable of optical auto-alignment with the pupil to account for subject and operator motion and mitigate resulting artifacts. We evaluate our device for use in ongoing clinical studies in pediatric subjects. We believe our device has the potential to increase accessibility and improve repeatability and reproducibility of OCT imaging in children and neonates.