Patent ID: 8500279

Claim:
A frequency domain (FD) optical coherence tomography (OCT) system generating images of the eye comprising: a light source for generating a probe beam; optics for scanning the beam across the eye; a spectrometer having a number of pixels for measuring light returned from the eye as a function of wavelength; a processor for generating images of the eye based on the output of the detector over a sampling of wavelengths, said OCT system having a first mode and a second mode, wherein the number of pixels used to generate the image of the eye during the second mode is less than the number of pixels used to generate the image during the first mode such that the number of sampled wavelengths used to generate the image of the eye during the second mode will be less than the number of sampled wavelengths used to generate the image of the eye during the first mode so that the image of the eye can be generated faster during the second mode than during the first mode and wherein the images in the first mode have a higher axial resolution than the images in the second mode, and wherein the processor generates an image of the eye during the second mode; and a display for displaying the generated image of the eye during the second mode to facilitate alignment of the system.