Abstract

The increasing popularity of refractive surgery -- photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and laser in-situ keratomileusis (Lasik) -- to modify the human cornea mandates detailed information on the 3D structure of individual cornea layers. Such information may be gathered by very high-frequency (VHF) ultrasound scanning. We describe the algorithms, features, and design of a software application for the functional analysis and visualization of VHF ultrasound data.

Our software uses bicubic Bezier patches to reconstruct the surfaces of the cornea. It applies ray tracing techniques in analyzing the thickness of the tissue layers that make up the cornea. The program generates both 2D and 3D representations of the results of the analysis. We packaged the application in a graphical user interface to enhance ease of use for ophthalmologists not necessarily trained in computational technology.