Patent ID: 8646916

Claim:
A method for generating a map of a cornea of an eye, the cornea having an anterior surface, a posterior surface, and an interior region between the anterior and posterior surfaces, the method comprising the steps of: a) illuminating a portion of the cornea by scanning focused infrared light in a plurality of different planes within said portion of the cornea that are substantially perpendicular to an optical axis of the eye, said plurality of planes intersecting the following: i) a first portion of the anterior surface and a first portion of the posterior surface; and ii) a second portion of the anterior surface, a second portion of the interior region and a first portion of the posterior surface, and iii) a second portion of the posterior surface and a third portion of the interior region, wherein the infrared light is of a wavelength that generates fluorescent light and a Second Harmonic Generation imaging (SHGi) signal by nonlinear optical processes from the portion of the cornea illuminated; b) detecting and evaluating the fluorescent light and SHGi signal generated from the portion of the cornea illuminated; c) determining the shape of the anterior and posterior surfaces and a spatially resolved thickness measurement of the portion of the cornea illuminated from the detected fluorescent light and the SHGi signal; d) determining from the SHGi signal the three dimensional layered structure of stroma tissue; (e) deriving, using finite element modeling, optical path lengths for the portion of the cornea illuminated from the detected fluorescent light and SHGi signal; (f) using the derived optical path lengths to generate a map of the anterior surface, posterior surface and the interior region for the portion of the cornea illuminated.