A scanning ophthalmoscope focuses coherent light to a target area in which a subjects eye is located. One or more scanning stages direct the light in a scanning pattern within the target area, and an imaging detector receives a reflected light signal returned following retinal reflection in the subjects eye. Adaptive optics compensate for aberrations in the wavefront. The light is provided as an annular beam at a plane which is conjugate with the pupil of a subject whose eye is located in the target area, whereby the annular beam is focused from an annulus at the pupil of the eye to a spot at the fundus of the eye. The spot size resulting from using an annular beam in this way is significantly reduced providing enhanced resolution.
