The Optical Coherence Tomography Microsurgical Augmented Reality System (OCT-MARS): A Novel Device for Microsurgeries

This thesis describes the development and testing of the Optical Coherence Tomography Microsurgical Augmented Reality System (OCT-MARS). This system allows surgeons to view real-time medical image data as an in situ overlay within the surgical field. There are a number of clinical applications for which real time, in situ visualization of otherwise transparent structures of the eye would be beneficial to surgeons. The primary motivating application for this project is the surgical treatment of glaucoma. We have built a projection system capable of producing flat and tilted images in the normal field of view of the microscope with sufficient brightness and resolution to be viewed under magnification. We have studied the perception of tilted surfaces under magnification and found that OCT images provide sufficient stereo information to be correctly perceived. Finally, we have tested stereo perception under magnification using surgically relevant tasks to evaluate the effectiveness of the system.