Scientists develop a versatile imaging system that will help diagnose pathologies in the back of the eye

Key Takeaways

• Researchers have designed a system to analyze the way in which light interacts with retinal structures at different frequencies, which can provide important diagnostic information to complement standard imaging methods. 
• The proposed design could pave the way to better diagnostic protocols for eye diseases.

Many ocular diseases involve changes in the structure and function of different regions of the back of the eye, also known as the “eye fundus.” For example, fluorescent pigments and tiny yellowish deposits called drusen accumulate under the retina in age-related macular degeneration, and the degeneration of neurons called ganglion cells is a defining characteristic of glaucoma.  In general, eye care professionals rely on color imaging and computed tomography techniques (uses light waves to take cross-section pictures of the retina) to diagnose ocular diseases. However, over the past few decades, scientists have found that disease-related changes in the eye fundus also modify its profiles for spectral reflectance and emittance. In other words, the way in which light interacts with specific retinal structures at different frequencies can provide important diagnostic information to complement standard imaging methods. As a result, spectral analysis tools and techniques for light reflected or emitted by the eye fundus have steadily gained traction.   Unfortunately, even though many different methods have been proposed, they still suffer from important limitations. For example, most spectroscopy-based methods can only make measurements over a large region of the eye fundus, which hinders their ability to detect fine spectral changes in small retinal structures. Techniques that can make localized spectral measurements require the fixation of the patient, which can be very tedious and uncomfortable.  To tackle these issues, a research team from Zilia Inc., Canada, led by Professor Dominic Sauvageau from University of Alberta, has developed a much more flexible system for targeted spectroscopy in the eye fundus. In their study, published in Journal of Biomedical Optics (JBO), they present the rationale behind their design and demonstrate its potential through a series of comprehensive experiments both in an eye model and in people.  Taken together, the results of this study highlight the many advantages of the proposed design and could pave the way to better diagnostic protocols for eye diseases. “This could open the door to changes in the way we diagnose and treat eye diseases, and targeted ocular spectroscopy could become an increasingly important tool in eye care in the coming years.”  Edited by Miriam Kaplan, PhD Source: SPIE, Medical Xpress, December 18, 2023; see source article