Clinical systems for optical coherence tomography (OCT) are used routinely to diagnose and monitor patients with a range of ocular diseases. They are large tabletop instruments operated by trained staff, and require mechanical stabilization of the head of the patient for positioning and motion reduction. Here we report the development and performance of a robot-mounted OCT scanner for the autonomous contactless imaging, at safe distances, of the eyes of freestanding individuals without the need for operator intervention or head stabilization. The scanner uses robotic positioning to align itself with the eye to be imaged, as well as optical active scanning to locate the pupil and to attenuate physiological eye motion. We show that the scanner enables the acquisition of OCT volumetric datasets, comparable in quality to those of clinical tabletop systems, that resolve key anatomic structures relevant for the management of common eye conditions. Robotic OCT scanners may enable the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with eye conditions in non-specialist clinics.

光学相干断层扫描 (OCT) 的临床系统通常用于诊断和监测患有一系列眼部疾病的患者。它们是由训练有素的工作人员操作的大型桌面仪器，需要对患者头部进行机械稳定以进行定位和减少运动。在这里，我们报告了安装在机器人上的 OCT 扫描仪的开发和性能，用于在安全距离内对独立个体的眼睛进行自主非接触式成像，而无需操作员干预或头部稳定。扫描仪使用机器人定位将自身与要成像的眼睛对齐，并使用光学主动扫描来定位瞳孔并减弱生理眼球运动。我们展示了扫描仪能够获取 OCT 体积数据集，在质量上可与临床桌面系统相媲美，解决与常见眼部疾病管理相关的关键解剖结构。机器人 OCT 扫描仪可以在非专科诊所诊断和监测眼疾患者。