Head-mounted imaging to improve eye scans and help surgeons avoid nerve injury
TRD2: Circular Ranging OCT
This project is building a lightweight head-mounted microscope that scans the retina for blood flow and helps surgeons see nerves more clearly to reduce accidental injury.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts General Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11320892 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would be hearing about a new head-mounted imaging device that can continuously scan the surgical field so surgeons can better see and avoid delicate nerves. The team is also adapting a very fast circular-ranging OCT to create wide-field retinal angiograms and pulse-resolved maps of blood flow across the retina, including the outer edges. Together, the hardware and software aim to give clearer, larger-scale pictures of retinal vessels and tissue perfusion. The devices will be tested and validated with clinical collaborators before wider use.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates would include people undergoing retinal imaging or angiography, healthy volunteers for imaging validation, and patients scheduled for surgeries where nerve preservation is a concern.
Not a fit: People without eye conditions, those not undergoing relevant imaging, or those whose conditions do not affect the retina or surgical nerve risk are unlikely to benefit directly.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this technology could help surgeons avoid nerve damage during operations and give eye doctors more complete, quantitative maps of retinal blood flow to detect or track disease earlier.
How similar studies have performed: Conventional OCT and retinal angiography are established and useful, but using circular-ranging OCT for head-mounted surgical loupes and wide-field, pulse-resolved flow mapping is a newer, experimental approach.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Massachusetts General Hospital — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Vakoc, Benjamin James — Massachusetts General Hospital
- Study coordinator: Vakoc, Benjamin James
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.