Salma Fleifil, a fourth-year medical student, has received a grant from the VitreoRetinal Surgery Foundation (VRSF) for her research on robotic optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non-invasive imaging technique used to obtain detailed, high-resolution images of the eye’s internal structures, particularly the retina and optic nerve. “This project focuses on utilizing a mobile robotic version of OCT,” says Nita Valikodath, M.D., M.S., Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, who is also Fleifil’s grant sponsor. “Traditional OCT requires patients to keep their heads positioned in a fixed manner for several minutes, which can be challenging for children and people with certain disabilities or injuries.” The mobile robotic OCT offers much greater ease of use: patients simply keep their eyes open for a few seconds while the robot quickly and automatically takes images. “Early findings show that patients find the robotic system more comfortable, faster, and as safe as the traditional method,” she adds. “Working on the patient-facing side of the robotic OCT project, and collaborating with our engineering and robotics colleagues to develop a system that is both technically advanced and comfortable for patients has been extremely rewarding,” says Fleifil. “I’m looking forward to expanding our testing to clinical settings beyond the ophthalmology clinic and talking with patients and families in the emergency department and inpatient settings about their experience with the robotic OCT.” The project aims to assess patients’ experiences and perceptions of the robotic OCT and to refine the design based on patient feedback. The study will also compare image quality and accuracy between the robotic and traditional OCT systems. “Salma has conducted early user assessment studies, which have provided us valuable feedback regarding the robotic OCT system and will inform future design iterations,” says Dr. Valikodath. “In the next phase of the study, she will assist in image analysis and in comparing the performance of the robotic OCT to the traditional OCT.” The work, titled “Assessing Patient Perceptions of a Robotically Aligned Optical Coherence Tomography (RAOCT) System,” was presented at the 2025 ARVO conference. This technology has the potential to expand access to high-quality retinal imaging for more individuals, especially children, people with disabilities, and hospital patients. “It could be deployed in emergency rooms, inpatient settings, or even primary care clinics; environments where traditional OCT devices are often unavailable or unusable,” she adds. “This broader accessibility will enable earlier diagnosis and more timely treatment, preventing vision loss in vulnerable patients.”