National Research Council of Canada

Annidis Health Systems Corp.

Jds Uniphase Corporation

General Signal Corporation

Canadian Patents & Development Ltd.

Remraf Pty. Ltd.

Ian Powell

David Alexander Kahn

David R Shafer

Thomas Ducellier

Siegfried Janz

Dan-Xia Xu

Pavel Cheben

Alan Boate

Jeremy Lloyd Gribben

Stephen David Shaw

John W Farmer

George Smith

Malcolm Gin

John F Brook

Daryl R White

Brian A See

A method and apparatus for quantitative imaging of the retinal fundus. The method for retinal health assessment comprises imaging the retinal fundus of a patient's eye at different wavelengths within a spectral range and determining spectral reflectivity of the retina for each pixel within a field of view (FOV). The retinal health is assessed based on the spectral reflectivity of the retina. The metabolic and anatomical activity of the eye is monitored to detect, at the earliest stage, activity that could lead to the onset of blinding eye diseases such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, cataracts, etc.

Retinal fundus surveillance method and apparatus

A method and apparatus for quantitatively imaging the retinal fundus. The method for retinal health assessment comprises imaging the retinal fundus of a patient's eye at different wavelengths within a spectral range and determining spectral reflectivity of the retina for each pixel within a field of view (FOV). The retinal health is assessed based on the spectral reflectivity of the retina. The metabolic and anatomical activity of the eye is monitored to detect, at the earliest stage, activity that could lead to the onset of blinding eye diseases such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, cataracts, etc.

A spectroscopic method and system for the spectral analysis of an optical signal directed to a wavelength dispersive component having two interleaved dispersive devices. For a single wavelength, the optical signal exiting the interleaved dispersive devices includes two wavefronts generally disposed at an angle to one another and producing an interference pattern. The interference pattern is detected and subsequently analyzed via a Fourier transform to produce the optical spectrum of the input beam. The method and system are applicable in a planar waveguide environment, in reflection and transmission geometries.

Wavelength dispersive fourier transform spectrometer

The invention provides an optical switch having a pair of opposed optical arrays, each optical array including a fixed mirror and a plurality of independently tiltable mirrors, at least one input port for launching a beam of light into the optical switch, said input port being disposed within a respective optical array, at least two output ports for selectively receiving a beam of light from an optical path between the at least one input port and a selected one of the at least two output ports, said at least two output ports being disposed within a respective opposed optical array, and an ATO element having optical power disposed between the pair of opposed optical arrays. The pair of opposed optical arrays is disposed in respective focal planes of the ATO element. Preferably, the ATO element has a focal length equal to a Rayleigh range of a beam of light incident thereon.

Optical switch

An optical device for measuring the length of a surface that has an undulating specular appearance. The device includes a beam delivery unit that superimposes a pair of laser beams onto a moving surface for producing an interference pattern having straight-line fringes on it and a light collector assembly that captures radiation reflected from different parts along the surface and directs the radiation to a detector. One particular beam delivery unit creates two interfering beams by using refracting prisms to intercept and redirect half of an elliptically shaped laser beam leaving the other half as the second beam. The collector assembly can have a variety of configurations and acts like a bucket collecting as much of the reflected radiation as possible. In order to accomplish this, the numerical aperture in the object space of the collector assembly is made greater than 0.5. In one embodiment, the collector assembly includes a plano-convex lens to collect narrow to moderate angle radiation, and the combination of a concave annular reflector and a partially reflective convex surface of the plano-convex lens to collect the moderate to wide angle radiation reflected from the moving surface to be measured. In other embodiments, Fresnel, aspheric or high refractive index lenses are used to collect the radiation reflected from the surface.

Non-contact interference optical system for measuring the length of a

A new panoramic/fish-eye imaging system for projecting a 360 degree cylindrical field of view onto a two-dimensional annular format is described. It is rotationally symmetrical and comprises two groups of optics, each having very distinct functions. The front group of optics is basically a catoptric system employing a concave and convex mirror for converting the extreme field angles to a more manageable intermediate image. The rear group acts as a relay lens to transfer the intermediate image formed by the front group to some accessible location downstream. For improved overall performance, aberration compensation of the front group is included in the design of the relay optics. A further refinement to the design is the inclusion of an additional optical element in the form of refracting negative shell located in front of the entire arrangement. This increases the effective field of view and is useful when fields of view exceeding 180 degrees are required.

Panoramic fish-eye imaging system

An optical lens is useful as a D-shape laser beam projector. The lens consists of a known linear diverging element enabling the expansion of a laser beam into an uniform line, and a matching section of an axicon, either a symmetrical half-axicon or a non-symmetrical one, cut in a plane passing through, or nearly through, its apex. The two components, joined together in a plane of cutting of the axicon section, are positioned in a laser beam such that the beam is incident on both apices of the linear diverging element and the axicon section.

D-shape laser beam projector

Optical instrument with a continuously adjustable zoom

A panoramic imaging system for projecting a 360 degree cylindrical field of view onto a two-dimensional annular format has a panoramic imaging block with a concentric axis of symmetry, two refractive surfaces and two reflective surfaces. The first reflective surface is a concave conicoid of revolution with the conic constant in the range from -0.6 to +2.0. In an embodiment of the invention, the second refractive surface (the last in the path of rays) is flat, while the first reflective surface, the second reflective surface and the first refractive surface are all spherical.

Panoramic lens

A photolithographic projection optical system comprising: a source of exposure energy for generating a beam of energy; an optical element located in the path of the beam for receiving the beam of energy and passing the beam therethrough; a refractive lens assembly located in the path of the portion of the beam for receiving and transmitting the beam of energy, the refractive lens assembly comprising at least one meniscus lens, a plano-convex lens, and an air gap disposed between the meniscus lens and the plano-convex lens; a reticle element located in the path of the portion of the beam, the reticle element having a uniform thickness and being positioned for permitting the beam to pass through the thickness and through the lens assembly to the optical element. Alternatively, the air gap of the refractive lens assembly can be replaced with a glass layer having an index of refraction that is lower than both the meniscus lens and the plano-convex lens.

Optical projection system including a refractive lens assembly having a

A new type of lens is described. The lens has the appearance of a prism with a relatively sharp radius at the apex. This lens finds an application in expanding a laser beam in one direction only.

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Gloucester, Canada

Ian Powell