SmartOCT: smartphone-integrated optical coherence tomography

Expanding Application of Optical Coherence Tomography Beyond the Clinic: A Narrative Review

Since its introduction, optical coherence tomography (OCT) has significantly progressed in addressing its limitations. By integrating artificial intelligence and multimodal imaging, OCT enhances both speed and image quality while reducing its size. OCT continues to advance, offering new possibilities beyond the in-office setting, including intraoperative applications. This review will explore the different types of home OCT and intraoperative OCT, as well as the uses of each device and their future potential in ophthalmology.

Recent Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) Innovations for Increased Accessibility and Remote Surveillance

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) has revolutionized the diagnosis and management of retinal diseases, offering high-resolution, cross-sectional imaging that aids in early detection and continuous monitoring. However, traditional OCT devices are limited to clinical settings and require a technician to operate, which poses accessibility challenges such as a lack of appointment availability, patient and family burden of frequent transportation, and heightened healthcare costs, especially when treatable pathology is undetected. With the increasing global burden of retinal conditions such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy, there is a critical need for improved accessibility in the detection of retinal diseases. Advances in biomedical engineering have led to innovations such as portable models, community-based systems, and artificial intelligence-enabled image analysis. The SightSync OCT is a community-based, technician-free device designed to enhance accessibility while ensuring secure data transfer and high-quality imaging (6 × 6 mm resolution, 80,000 A-scans/s). With its compact design and potential for remote interpretation, SightSync widens the possibility for community-based screening for vision-threatening retinal diseases. By integrating innovations in OCT imaging, the future of monitoring for retinal disease can be transformed to reduce barriers to care and improve patient outcomes. This article discusses the evolution of OCT technology, its role in the diagnosis and management of retinal diseases, and how novel engineering solutions like SightSync OCT are transforming accessibility in retinal imaging.

Integrating artificial intelligence with smartphone-based imaging for cancer detection in vivo

Cancer is a major global health challenge, accounting for nearly one in six deaths worldwide. Early diagnosis significantly improves survival rates and patient outcomes, yet in resource-limited settings, the scarcity of medical resources often leads to late-stage diagnosis. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with smartphone-based imaging systems offers a promising solution by providing portable, cost-effective, and widely accessible tools for early cancer detection. This paper introduces advanced smartphone-based imaging systems that utilize various imaging modalities for in vivo detection of different cancer types and highlights the advancements of AI for in vivo cancer detection in smartphone-based imaging. However, these compact smartphone systems face challenges like low imaging quality and restricted computing power. The use of advanced AI algorithms to address the optical and computational limitations of smartphone-based imaging systems provides promising solutions. AI-based cancer detection also faces challenges. Transparency and reliability are critical factors in gaining the trust and acceptance of AI algorithms for clinical application, explainable and uncertainty-aware AI breaks the black box and will shape the future AI development in early cancer detection. The challenges and solutions for improving AI accuracy, transparency, and reliability are general issues in AI applications, the AI technologies, limitations, and potentials discussed in this paper are applicable to a wide range of biomedical imaging diagnostics beyond smartphones or cancer-specific applications. Smartphone-based multimodal imaging systems and deep learning algorithms for multimodal data analysis are also growing trends, as this approach can provide comprehensive information about the tissue being examined. Future opportunities and perspectives of AI-integrated smartphone imaging systems will be to make cutting-edge diagnostic tools more affordable and accessible, ultimately enabling early cancer detection for a broader population.

Recent developments of telemedicine in glaucoma

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Telemedicine has an increasingly significant role in the fields of ophthalmology and glaucoma. This review covers recent advancements in the development and optimization of teleglaucoma techniques and applications.

RECENT FINDINGS

Glaucoma monitoring and diagnosis via remote tonometry, perimetry, and fundus imaging have become a possibility based on recent developments. Many applications work in combination with smart devices, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence and have been tested in patient populations against conventional "reference-standard" measurement tools, demonstrating promising results. Of note, there is still much progress to be made in teleglaucoma and telemedicine at large, such as accessibility to internet, broadband, and smart devices, application affordability, and reimbursement for remote services. However, continued development and optimization of these applications suggest that the implementation of remote monitoring will be a mainstay for glaucoma patient care.

SUMMARY

Especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote patient care has taken on an important role in medicine and ophthalmology. Remote versions of tonometry, perimetry, and fundus imaging may allow for a more patient-centered and accessible future for glaucoma care.

Portable optical fiber biosensors integrated with smartphone: technologies, applications, and challenges [Invited]

The increasing demand for individualized health monitoring and diagnostics has prompted considerable research into the integration of portable optical fiber biosensors integrated with smartphones. By capitalizing on the benefits offered by optical fibers, these biosensors enable qualitative and quantitative biosensing across a wide range of applications. The integration of these sensors with smartphones, which possess advanced computational power and versatile sensing capabilities, addresses the increasing need for portable and rapid sensing solutions. This extensive evaluation thoroughly examines the domain of optical fiber biosensors in conjunction with smartphones, including hardware complexities, sensing approaches, and integration methods. Additionally, it explores a wide range of applications, including physiological and chemical biosensing. Furthermore, the review provides an analysis of the challenges that have been identified in this rapidly evolving area of research and concludes with relevant suggestions for the progression of the field.

30 Years of Optical Coherence Tomography: introduction to the feature issue

The guest editors introduce a feature issue commemorating the 30th anniversary of Optical Coherence Tomography.