Method and Apparatus for Imaging the Eye from a Distance

A video camera captures images of retroreflection from the retina of an eye. These images are captured while the eye rotates. Thus, different images are captured in different rotational positions of the eye. A computer calculates, for each image, the eye's direction of gaze. In turn, the direction of gaze is used to calculate the precise location of a small region of the retina at which the retroflection occurs. A computer calculates a digital image of a portion of the retina by summing data from multiple retroreflection images. The digital image of the retina may be used for many practical applications, including medical diagnosis and biometric identification. In some scenarios, the video camera captures detailed images of the retina of a subject, while the subject is so far away that the rest of the subject's face is below the diffraction limit of the camera.