Design and application of a realistic and multifunctional retinal phantom for standardizing ophthalmic imaging systems

Retinal imaging is essential for diagnosing and treating retinal diseases. However, the lack of standardized and realistic optical phantoms limits the calibration and validation of imaging systems. Here we developed a realistic retinal phantom based on the concept of a super phantom designed to replicate the morphological and functional characteristics of the human retina. The phantom comprises a 13-layered structure, microfluidic channels to emulate vascular networks in the human retina, and fluorescent microbeads to replicate retinal autofluorescence. We validated the measurement of axial resolution, depth range, and field-of-view of optical coherence tomography (OCT) using the phantom. In addition, we confirmed the utility of the phantom across multiple ophthalmic imaging modalities, including OCT, OCT angiography, fundus autofluorescence, fluorescein angiography, and indocyanine green angiography. Imaging systems will be able to enhance the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of retinal diseases by standardizing imaging systems with this phantom and improving both the qualitative analysis and the accuracy of quantitative parameters, such as retinal thickness.