Identifying floating objects that indicate vision loss.

Abstract

Certain embodiments disclosed herein include projecting an azimuthal grid into a patient's eye. A computer system projects the azimuthal grid into the patient's eye while taking one or more images of the patient's retina, for example, using SLO. A fixation grid may also be displayed, and the patient is instructed to gaze at a fixation target. The computer system overlays the azimuthal grid onto one or more images to obtain one or more output images. One or more output images are displayed to at least one of the surgeon and / or the patient. The surgeon and / or the patient may examine the output images and use the coordinates of the azimuthal grid to communicate the location of a floating object.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to methods for treating vitreous floaters.

Background Art

[0002] Light entering the human eye passes through the transparent cornea covering the iris and pupil of the eye. The light passes through the pupil and is focused by the lens, which is within a structure called the lens capsule, behind the pupil. The light is focused onto the retina by the cornea and the lens, and the retina contains rods and cones that can generate nerve impulses in response to the light. The space between the lens and the retina is filled with a transparent gel known as the vitreous humor.

[0003] For various reasons, floaters can be present in the vitreous humor. Floaters are typically formed from clumps of cells or other tissues and are less transparent than the surrounding vitreous humor. Floaters cast shadows on the retina and cause visual disturbances in patients, which can be severe in some patients.

[0004] Facilitating the diagnosis and treatment of floaters would be an advancement in the art.

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The present disclosure generally relates to a system for diagnosing and treating vitreous floaters.

[0006] Certain embodiments disclosed herein provide a method and corresponding apparatus, the method including projecting an orientation grid into a patient's eye. A computer system captures one or more images of the patient's retina while projecting the orientation grid into the patient's eye. The computer system superimposes the orientation grid on the one or more images to obtain one or more output images. The one or more output images are displayed to at least one of a surgeon and the patient.

[0007] The following description and related drawings illustrate in detail specific exemplary features of one or more embodiments.

[0008] The following description and related drawings illustrate in detail specific exemplary features of one or more embodiments.

[0009] The accompanying drawings illustrate specific aspects of one or more embodiments and should not be considered to limit the scope of this disclosure. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a schematic cross-sectional view of an eye with floating objects. [Figure 2A] This is a schematic diagram of a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO). [Figure 2B] This is a schematic diagram of a system that images the patient's retina along with a fixation target, according to a specific embodiment. [Figure 3] A fixation target having a polar coordinate grid for facilitating the diagnosis of floating objects, according to a specific embodiment. [Figure 4A] This is an SLO image of the retina and the shadows of floating objects on the retina, with a fixation target superimposed on it, according to a specific embodiment. [Figure 4B] This is an SLO image in which a polar coordinate grid is superimposed, according to a specific embodiment. [Figure 5] This is a process flow diagram of a method for diagnosing vitreous floats according to a specific embodiment. [Figure 6] This document describes an exemplary computing device that, according to a particular embodiment, performs at least partially one or more functions for diagnosing airborne particles. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] For ease of understanding, the same reference numerals are used whenever possible to indicate identical elements common to both drawings. It is assumed that elements and features of one embodiment may be usefully incorporated into other embodiments without further mention.

[0012] Referring to Figure 1, the human eye 100 includes a spherical, transparent layer called the cornea 102, through which light enters the eye 100. The light then passes through the pupil 104 and lens 106 of the eye 100. The light is focused by the cornea 102 and lens 106 onto the retina 112 at the back of the eye 100. The rest of the eyeball 108 of the eye 100 is filled with a transparent gel known as the vitreous humor 110.

[0013] The portion of the retina 112 opposite the pupil 104 is known as the fovea, where the photoreceptor cells (rods and cones) are most concentrated. The fovea occupies approximately 2 degrees of the visual field of eye 100. The peripheral region of the fovea is known as the parafovea, and the peripheral region of the parafovea is known as the perifovea. The sizes of the fovea, parafovea, and perifovea are approximately 1.5 mm, 2.5 mm, and 5.5 mm, respectively. In an emmetropic eye, the visual angle is approximately equal to the arcsine (retinal distance measured in mm / 17 mm). Therefore, the angles of the fovea, parafovea, and perifovea are 5.1°, 8.5°, and 18.9°, respectively.

[0014] Vitreous floats 114 are clumps of cells, collagen, or other deposits present in the vitreous humor 110. The presence of vitreous floats 114 creates shadows 116 on the retina 112. The shadows 116 may occupy a certain angular range of the field of vision of the eye 100. If the floats 114 are sufficiently large, opaque, and / or numerous, they may significantly impair the patient's visual acuity.

[0015] Floaters are embedded in the viscous vitreous humor in a free-floating state. During normal visual activity, the eyeball rotates, causing the vitreous humor, the floaters embedded within it, and the shadows of the floaters on the retina to move. This is the origin of the name "floaters." Floaters are sometimes called "vitreous opacities," which comes from the Greek word meaning "seeing insects flying around." The degree of visual impairment depends on many parameters, including the size of the floaters 114, the optical density of the shadows 116, the distance of the shadows 116 from the fovea, and the speed and direction of the shadows 116's movement. Typically, shadows moving towards the fovea are more distracting than shadows moving away from the fovea. When the stationary position of the shadows 116 coincides with the fovea, the patient may experience discomfort and decreased visual acuity. In the parafoveal and perifoveal locations, moving shadows 116 do not affect visual acuity as assessed with the Snellen target, but they do distract the patient's visual attention. These distractions that interfere with attention are annoying and can even be dangerous, for example, while driving.

[0016] Due to the mechanical inertia of the gel-like vitreous humor 110, the movement of the shadow 116 lags behind the rotation of the eye 100. When the eye 100 fixates on a target, the movement of the floating object 114 stops after a few seconds, and the shadow 116 remains motionless. Experiments conducted by the inventors have shown that most floating objects 114 have an invariant "home position." Depending on the visual task, the shadow 116 of each floating object 114 moves near this home position. The home positions of the floating objects 114 and their corresponding shadows 116 typically remain unchanged for several months.

[0017] Figure 2A shows an exemplary SLO example that may be used to carry out the method described herein. While the system and method are described herein using an SLO, other imaging modalities such as optical coherence tomography (OCT) devices or fundus cameras may also be used. The SLO comprises a laser diode LD, which, as is known to those skilled in the art, may be embodied as an infrared laser diode suitable for use in an SLO. Infrared light from the laser diode LD is invisible to the patient.

[0018] The beam from the laser diode LD is made substantially parallel (e.g., within 1 degree) using the lens L4. The beam from the laser diode LD is incident on a scanning mirror SM that rotates around at least two rotational directions. For example, the scanning mirror SM can rotate in rotational directions RX and RY, which can be defined as rotations around the X-axis and Y-axis, respectively. In some implementations, the scanning mirror SM is implemented by a first mirror (the "RX mirror") that rotates around the rotational direction RX and a second mirror (the "RY mirror") that rotates around the direction RY. For example, the RX mirror can be implemented as a resonant scanner, and the RY mirror is implemented as a relatively slow galvanometer mirror.

[0019] The light reflected from the scanning mirror SM is directed through one or more lenses L1, L2, which focus the light onto the focal point of the SLO, i.e., the retina 112 of the eye 100. A portion of the light from the focal point of the SLO reflects back at the retina 112, passes through the lenses L2, L1 again, and is descanned by the scanning mirror SM to the beam splitter BS. The beam splitter BS directs at least a portion of the descanned light towards the photodiode PD. As is apparent from FIG. 2A, the light emitted from the laser diode LD is incident on the beam splitter BS, and a portion of it passes through and reaches the vitreous 110.

[0020] In some implementations, the lens L3 is positioned between the beam splitter BS and the photodiode PD to reduce the detection of light reflected from other structures located at some location other than the focal point of the cornea, lens, or laser diode LD at the retina. The pinhole PH is positioned at the focal point of the lens L3 between the lens L3 and the photodiode PD. Thus, L3 and the pinhole PH form a confocal filter that suppresses light from sources other than the focal point of the laser diode LD on the surface of the retina 112. For efficient depth selection, the diameter of the pinhole PH should be approximately the diffraction-limited spot diameter of the lens L3 (e.g., the difference is within 10%). The lens L3 can be implemented as a single lens or a compound lens system.

[0021] The SLO can be coupled to a computer system, which is, for example, a computer system having some or all of the attributes of the computing system 1000 described below. The computer system can receive the output of the photodiode PD continuously or at a certain sampling rate. The computer system can combine the output of the photodiode PD with the angular orientation of the mirrors obtained from the encoders of the RX and RY mirrors. By combining these data, the computer system can continuously create an en face 2D image of the light reflected from the retina 112.

[0022] Referring to FIG. 2B, the system 200 can include an SLO combined with a microdisplay MD. The microdisplay MD projects the aforementioned fixation target into the patient's eye 100 and onto the retina 112. The microdisplay MD can be coupled to a computing system such as the computing system 600 (see FIG. 6), which controls the image displayed on the microdisplay MD while acquiring the video from the SLO. The light from the SLO and the microdisplay MD can be combined by a coupling optical system CO such as one or more lenses, beam splitters or other optical elements and directed into the patient's eye 100 and focused onto the retina 112.

[0023] Referring to Figure 3, a polar coordinate grid 300 may be displayed with a fixation target and projected onto the patient's retina 112 during SLO video recording to assist the patient in identifying the angular position of the floating object 114. The polar coordinate grid 300 may be labeled with azimuth angles in degrees (e.g., 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, 270, 300, and 330 degrees) or in time units (e.g., radial lines are shown as 1-12 in Figure 8). The radius of the polar coordinate grid 300 may be represented as concentric circles with angular offsets from the visual axis of the eye 100 (e.g., 5°, 10°, 15° in Figure 8). The image of the polar coordinate grid 300 on the microdisplay MD and the geometric size of the optical system between the microdisplay MD and the patient's eye should be designed so that the display of angular offsets corresponds to the patient's actual visual angle. A Cartesian grid may also be used, which is a grid where, for example, horizontal lines are represented by numbers and vertical lines by letters, and coordinates can be represented by letters and numbers, i.e., A1, B5, etc. In either case, the grid is represented by two-dimensional coordinates. Similarly, in either case, a fixation target may be included at the center of the grid.

[0024] The brightness of the fixation target, polar coordinate grid, or its background should be sufficient to obtain a retinal illuminance of at least 1000 troland, although values ​​of 1000–5000 may also be used. At 1000 troland, the eye's contrast sensitivity reaches its maximum, and therefore the shadows of floating objects 116 are clearly visible to the patient, and the impairment to visual acuity is fully recognized. Area 1 mm 2 For pupils with a dilated pupil, 1 trolland is sufficient if the patient has a pupil size of 1 cd / m². 2 This is the retinal illuminance when observing the surface. A typical brightness of a computer screen is 300 cd / m². 2 Therefore, when viewing a bright microdisplay with a pupil of 2 mm in diameter, the light intensity is 300 cd / m². 2 *3.14mm 2 This corresponds to 942 troland. The pupil size is typically greater than 2 mm, and therefore a retinal brightness of 1000 troland can be achieved with a microdisplay.

[0025] In SLO, a fixation target is displayed to the patient, and the patient is instructed to fix their gaze on the target. Figure 4A shows an SLO image of the retina with four shadows of four floating objects displayed on the SLO display screen. The fixation target is displayed to the patient in the visible spectral range. The SLO beam scans the retina with an infrared beam, and because SLO is designed to detect little of the visible spectrum, the image of the fixation target on the retina is not visible in SLO. The SLO software can be configured to artificially overlay the fixation target on the SLO image. In this way, the surgeon knows the position of the patient's fixation point during measurement. Figure 4A shows not only the retina image with the shadows of the four floating objects, but also an additional image of the fixation target displayed for the surgeon on the SLO display.

[0026] Figure 4B shows the SLO image of the patient's retina from Figure 4A with the polar coordinate grid 300 and fixation target from Figure 3 superimposed; that is, the same image projected onto the patient's retina 112 when the SLO image was taken of the patient's retina 112. During SLO image acquisition, retinal eye tracking may be performed to ensure that the center of the SLO image remains in the center of the patient's fovea. Retinal eye tracking may be performed by any method known in the art of OCT or SLO. Before and / or during SLO image acquisition, the patient is instructed to focus their gaze on the center of the polar coordinate grid (e.g., the central reticle). The polar coordinate grid in Figure 4B may be substantially centered on the SLO image (e.g., within 0.01 degrees) or otherwise centered on the representation of the fovea in the SLO image. Thus, apart from the retinal vessels and other retinal features in the figure, the SLO image and the polar coordinate grid superimposed on it substantially reproduce the patient's visual experience when the SLO image was taken, assuming that the patient's gaze is substantially centered on the center of the polar coordinate grid.

[0027] Figure 5 shows a process flow diagram of method 500 for diagnosing vitreous floats. Method 500 can be performed by a computing system 600 in cooperation with the patient and an operator such as a surgeon or other healthcare professional.

[0028] In step 502, the patient sits in front of the SLO and looks at it. In step 504, the SLO projects a fixation target and an azimuthal grid (e.g., polar coordinate grid 300) into the patient's eye. In step 506, the surgeon or instructions displayed on the microdisplay MD or played aloud by the SLO itself instruct the patient to gaze at the fixation target. In step 508, the surgeon begins recording all motion images of the retina and the shadows of the floating objects on the retina, with the fixation target and azimuthal grid displayed facing the patient and the patient continuing to gaze at the fixation target. Eye tracking may be performed during recording or may be omitted depending on how the patient gazes at the fixation target. The motion images may be displayed on a display device overlaid with the azimuthal grid and fixation target. In step 510, after gazing for several seconds, the movement of the shadows of the floating objects on the retina stops as the floating objects settle into their respective home positions. In step 512, the surgeon ends the recording, for example, after about 30-60 seconds or some other duration.

[0029] In step 514, the surgeon instructs the patient to use their peripheral vision to locate and memorize the coordinates of the shadows of the floating objects on an azimuthal grid while gazing at them. For example, in the case of the shadow in Figure 4B, these are approximately 15° at 9:30 and approximately 15° at 2:00. In step 516, the surgeon plays back the video and medically evaluates it, which may include the surgeon identifying the coordinates and, if applicable, the size of the shadows of the floating objects visible in the video. The video may be displayed on a computer screen or another display device such as a television.

[0030] In step 518, the surgeon again plays the video for the patient and asks the patient to identify the coordinates of the shadows of one or more floating objects that impair vision. Step 518 is preferably performed immediately after step 506, for example, within 2 minutes, so that the patient can remember the coordinates of the shadows 116 if they recognize them. The patient may identify the coordinates by saying them verbally or by entering the coordinates on an azimuthal grid. The coordinates may also be provided by receiving user input to a touchscreen. For example, an SLO video or still image with fixation targets superimposed may be displayed on the touchscreen, and the patient may tap the points on the screen that they believe correspond to the floating objects. The user may provide additional input regarding the shadows 116a, 116b of the individual floating objects identified, such as a severity rating (e.g., 1 indicates almost unrecognizable, 10 indicates substantial interference with vision) or an estimate of size, etc. This input may be provided verbally, typed, or entered through an interface provided on the touchscreen.

[0031] In step 520, if the patient's identification is unclear, the video may be reviewed again, or, if the identification is clear, it may be re-recorded and reviewed one or more times as needed. In step 522, based on the surgeon's findings and the symptoms reported by the patient, the surgeon recommends a type of treatment, which may include a recommendation of no treatment. Step 520 includes entering the proposed treatment plan into the computing system 600. The proposed treatment plan may be stored together with some or all of the SLO video or still images recorded in step 508, the SLO video or still images with the fixation target superimposed, and the patient's identification results received in step 518.

[0032] Figure 6 shows an exemplary computing system 600 that implements at least some of the functions described herein with respect to Figures 3-5. The computing system 600 may be integrated with an imaging device such as an SLO, or it may be a separate computing device that receives images of the patient's eye from the SLO and controls a fixation target displayed on a microdisplay MD.

[0033] As shown in the figure, the computing system 600 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 602, one or more I / O device interfaces 604 that can connect various I / O devices 614 (e.g., keyboard, display, mouse device, pen input, etc.) to the computing system 600, a network interface 606 through which the computing system 600 is connected to a network 690, memory 608, storage 610, and an interconnection unit 612.

[0034] If the computing system 600 is an imaging system such as an SLO, OCT, or fundus camera, the computing system 600 may further include one or more optical components for acquiring ophthalmic images of the patient's eye and any other components known to those skilled in the art.

[0035] The CPU 602 can retrieve and execute programming instructions stored in memory 608. Similarly, the CPU 602 can retrieve and store application data located in memory 608. The interconnect 612 transfers programming instructions and application data between the CPU 602, the I / O device interface 604, the network interface 606, the memory 608, and the storage 610. The CPU 602 can represent a single CPU, multiple CPUs, a single CPU with multiple processing cores, and so on.

[0036] Memory 608 represents volatile memory such as random access memory and / or non-volatile random access memory such as phase-change random access memory. As shown in the figure, memory 608 may store a fixation routine 616 configured to control the display of the fixation target and polar coordinate grid 300 on the microdisplay MD. This memory may further store a test routine 618 containing executable code for performing the computer steps of the method 500 described above.

[0037] The storage 610 may be non-volatile memory such as a disk drive, a solid-state drive, or a group of storage devices distributed across multiple storage systems. The storage 610 may optionally store the SLO video 620 captured in step 506 of method 500, the patient identification result 622 received in step 518, and / or the treatment plan 624 received in step 522.

[0038] Additional matters The above description is provided so that those skilled in the art can implement the various embodiments described herein. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may also apply to other embodiments. For example, modifications to the function and arrangement of the elements described above may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Various procedures or components may be omitted, replaced or added as appropriate in various examples. Features described in some examples may be combined with any other examples. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be performed using any number of embodiments described herein. In addition, the scope of this disclosure shall also include apparatus or methods implemented using structures, functions or structures and functions that are added to or other than the various embodiments of this disclosure described herein. It should be understood that any embodiment of this disclosure disclosed herein may be realized by one or more elements of the claims.

[0039] As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of these items, including a single member. For example, “at least one of a, b or c” includes a, b, c, ab, ac, bc and abc, as well as any combination of multiple identical elements (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc and ccc, or any other order of a, b and c).

[0040] As used herein, the term “identify” encompasses a wide range of actions. For example, “identify” may include calculating, calculating, processing, deriving, investigating, searching (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), confirming, etc. “Identify” may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), etc. “Identify” may also include resolving, selecting, choosing, confirming, etc.

[0041] The methods disclosed herein include one or more steps or operations for implementing the method. The steps and / or operations of the method may be interchangeable with one another without departing from the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or operations is specified, the specific order and / or use of the steps and / or operations may be modified without departing from the claims. Furthermore, the various operations of the method described above may be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding function. These means may include, but are not limited to, various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including circuits, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or processors. Generally, where operations are shown in the drawings, these operations may have corresponding means-plus-function elements with similar numbering.

[0042] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with this disclosure may be implemented or run by a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic element (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, a combination of a DSP core and one or more microprocessors working together, or any other such configuration.

[0043] The processing system may be implemented using a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnection buses and bridges, depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system. The bus may interconnect various circuits, including, among others, processors, machine-readable media, and input / output devices. User interfaces (e.g., keypads, displays, mice, joysticks, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also connect various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore not described further. The processor may be implemented using one or more general-purpose and / or dedicated processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other software-executable circuits. Those skilled in the art will understand how to optimally implement the described functions of the processing system, depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[0044] When implemented in software, these functions may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or code in a computer-readable medium. Software, regardless of the term used—software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise—is broadly interpreted to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof. Computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and communication media, such as any medium that facilitates the transfer of computer programs from one location to another. A processor may be responsible for managing buses and general operations, including the execution of software modules stored in computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable storage media may be coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage media. Alternatively, storage media may be incorporated into the processor. For example, computer-readable medium may include computer-readable storage media where instructions are stored separately from transmission lines, data-modulated carriers, and / or wireless nodes, all of which may be accessible from the processor via a bus interface. Alternatively or additionally, computer-readable medium or any part thereof may be incorporated into the processor, as in the case of caches and / or general-purpose register files. Examples of machine-readable storage media include, for example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage media or any combination thereof. Machine-readable media can be embodied in computer program products.

[0045] A software module may contain a single instruction or a number of instructions and may be distributed across several different code segments, different programs, and multiple storage media. A computer-readable medium may contain many software modules. When executed by a device such as a processor, a software module contains instructions that cause the processing system to perform various functions. A software module may include a send module and a receive module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. For example, when a trigger event occurs, a software module may be loaded from the hard drive into RAM. While a software module is executing, the processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to increase access speed. Thus, one or more cache lines may be loaded into a general-purpose register file to be executed by the processor. When referring to the functionality of a software module, it should be understood that such functionality is realized by the processor when executing instructions from that software module.

[0046] The following claims are not limited to the embodiments shown herein and shall be consistent with the entire scope of the claims as consistent with the language of the claims. Where an element is referred to in the singular in a claim, unless otherwise specifically stated, it shall mean "one or more" and not "only one". Unless otherwise specifically stated, the term "several" refers to one or more. No element of a claim shall be construed under Section 112(f) of the U.S. Patent Act unless that element is expressly described using the phrase "means for" or, in the case of a method claim, using the phrase "steps for". All structural and functional equivalents of elements of various forms described throughout this disclosure, known to or to those skilled in the art, are expressly incorporated by reference herein and incorporated into the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein, whether or not such disclosure is expressly stated in the claims, is made available to the public.

Claims

1. Projecting an azimuth grid into the patient's eye, The computer system captures one or more images of the retina of the patient's eye while projecting the azimuth grid into the patient's eye. The computer system overlays the azimuth grid onto one or more images to obtain one or more output images, The computer system displays one or more output images to at least one of the surgeon and the patient. A method that includes this.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the azimuthal grid is a polar coordinate grid.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the azimuth lines of the polar coordinate grid are labeled with time labels 1 to 12.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising displaying a fixation target together with the azimuthal grid.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising instructing the patient to gaze at the fixation target.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein capturing one or more images of the retina includes detecting infrared light reflected from the retina while the patient is gazing at the fixation target.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein capturing one or more images includes capturing one or more images of the retina using a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO).

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein capturing one or more images includes capturing a video of the retina.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving a patient selection of coordinates in the azimuthal grid corresponding to one or more angular positions of one or more shadows on the retina, using the computer system.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising receiving a treatment plan for one or more vitreous floaters in the eye via the computer system.

11. An imaging device configured to both (a) project an azimuthal grid into the eye of a patient, the azimuthal grid having coordinate labels in two angular dimensions, and (b) capture one or more images of the retina of the eye of the patient during (a), A computer system coupled to the imaging device, The fixation target and the azimuth grid are superimposed on one or more images to obtain one or more output images, The one or more output images described above are to be displayed to at least one of the surgeon and the patient. A computer system configured to perform the following: A system that includes this.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the azimuthal grid is a polar coordinate grid.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the azimuth coordinates of the polar coordinate grid are labeled with time labels from 1 to 12.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein the imaging device is configured to display a fixation target together with the azimuthal grid in (a).

15. The system according to claim 14, further configured to provide voice instructions to the patient to gaze at the fixation target.

16. The system according to claim 14, wherein the imaging device is an SLO configured to capture one or more images of the retina by detecting infrared light reflected from the retina while the patient is gazing at the fixation target.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the imaging device is configured to perform (a) by projecting the azimuthal grid as visible light.

18. The system according to claim 11, wherein the imaging device is configured to capture one or more images by capturing a video of the retina.

19. The system according to claim 11, further configured to receive patient selections of coordinates in the azimuthal grid corresponding to one or more angular positions of one or more shadows on the retina.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein the computer system is further configured to receive a treatment plan for one or more vitreous floats in the eye of the patient.

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