Recording the diffraction pattern reflected from corneal endothelium

As a part of an ongoing research project on morphometrical diagnosis of the corneal endothelium, an experimental optical setup has been created. The structure of the corneal endothelial cells could be considered a reflecting periodical aperture. Hence, the diffraction pattern reflected from the endothelium contains valuable morphometrical information. In the present work, focus has been on sampling the posterior surface of explanted corneas. Methods: An optical setup was created, using a 632.8 nm He-Ne laser as the light source. The desired diffraction pattern was produced as a collimated reflection. Hence, because the posterior surface of the cornea is concave, lenses were used to attain the right divergence of the light impingent on the corneal endothelium. These lenses also made it possible to adjust the sampling spot size. A beam splitter (BS) was used to provide an optical path for both the impinging laser beam as well as the reflected diffracted beam. The lens acting as a Fourier lens was then placed after the BS. At the back focal plane of the Fourier lens, a CCD detector was used for recording in the Fourier plane. In the process of creating the setup, explanted corneas were emulated using grated contact lenses. Results: The current optical set up allows identification of a diffraction pattern from a concave spherical surface with a radius of curvature of the same order as a human cornea.