# A High-Speed, User-Friendly, Handheld OCT System for Patients who are Unable to Cooperate

> **NIH NIH R43** · THEIA IMAGING LLC · 2021 · $259,612

## Abstract

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is the gold standard for the diagnosis and monitoring of retinal and
optic nerve diseases. Most clinical OCT systems are large tabletop devices that require a compliant subject,
and thus are not suitable for use with infants, young children, and patients who are unable to cooperate for eye
imaging (such as from physical disability or during eye examination under anesthesia). As many of these
patients cannot communicate about vision disturbance or vision loss, diagnosis of disease in these patients is
difficult to achieve before irrevocable vision loss occurs. One example is preterm infants at risk for retinopathy
of prematurity (ROP) who make up 1.4% of the newborn population. While handheld OCT (HH-OCT) has led to
significant insights into the development of ROP, the use of HH-OCT for disease screening has been limited
due to the poor usability of existing commercial systems. Capturing images in awake infants with these
systems is challenging, requiring specialized research staff with significant training. There is a need for a
point of care, high-speed, user-friendly handheld OCT system to improve the standard of care of
infants, young children, and patients who are unable to cooperate for imaging.
 Theia Imaging is led by a team of experts in the development HH-OCT systems. Our long-term objective
is to develop a point of care, high speed, user-friendly, handheld OCT system to enable clinicians and
researchers to gather much-needed OCT imaging of the retina and/or optic nerve head of their
patients. This will decrease the need for examinations under anesthesia and simplify access to valuable
information about the retina and optic nerve head at the time of eye care and general health care.
 Through the following specific aims, we will begin the process of translating such an HH-OCT system, with
improved speed, ergonomics, and usability as compared to commercially available systems. Specific Aim 1:
Develop a Portable, High-Speed OCT System with Ergonomic, User-Friendly Handheld Probe. We will
develop a 300 kHz OCT system (the fastest medical OCT system of any kind) with a lightweight, ergonomic
handheld probe. Specific Aim 2: Develop Real-Time, Workflow-Optimized OCT Capture Software. We will
develop real time, OCT acquisition software for the 300 kHz OCT system engine and an intuitive workflow-
optimized user interface/user experience. Specific Aim 3: Validation Study. Use of the proposed HH-OCT
system will be compared to current commercial HH-OCT systems in a validation study. The expected
outcome of this proposal is the development and validation of a prototype high-speed, user-friendly HH-OCT
system and software usable by ophthalmic and optometric technicians without the need for specialized
training. We believe that the commercialization of this system will greatly improve the standard of eye care and
general health care for infants, young children and patients unable to cooperate for eye imaging.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10152298
- **Project number:** 1R43EY032394-01
- **Recipient organization:** THEIA IMAGING LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Al-Hafeez Zahir Dhalla
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $259,612
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-03-01 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10152298

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10152298, A High-Speed, User-Friendly, Handheld OCT System for Patients who are Unable to Cooperate (1R43EY032394-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10152298. Licensed CC0.

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