Eye Disease & Blindness
Ophthalmology
Nearly 1 in 3 individuals will experience some degree of vision loss by the age of 65. Loss of vision can have serious implications for quality of life, as it is a central component of perception and interaction. Additionally, people with vision loss may require additional support to continue living their daily lives which can impose a significant financial burden on society. The majority of vision loss complications in North America is due to diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and glaucoma. The diagnoses and treatments of diseases require the ability to properly evaluate the health of the retina and other ophthalmologic structures. This has driven the development and adoption of advanced modern imaging techniques such as optical coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescence-based intraocular imaging, and ultrasound-based imaging. These modalities aim to better identify key physiological characteristics, including retinal vasculature, in the hopes of improving early detection and treatment of these disease processes.
We recently pioneered a non-contact, non-invasive, optical absorption-based imaging technique called Photoacoustic Remote Sensing Microscopy (PARS® Microscopy). This technique enables ultra-sensitive and accurate structural and functional imaging of intraocular vasculatures. PARS® technology provides a direct accurate measurement of oxygen saturation (sO2) which is essential information for early detection and understanding age-related vision loss problems. Our team is working to customize PARS® microscopy to be combined with currently available imaging systems in clinical ophthalmology such as OCT. We believe that by bringing PARS® to the ophthalmology clinic we will positively impact patient outcomes.
Nearly 1 in 3 individuals will experience some degree of vision loss by the age of 65. Loss of vision can have serious implications for quality of life, as it is a central component of perception and interaction. Additionally, people with vision loss may require additional support to continue living their daily lives which can impose a significant financial burden on society. The majority of vision loss complications in North America is due to diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and glaucoma. The diagnoses and treatments of diseases require the ability to properly evaluate the health of the retina and other ophthalmologic structures. This has driven the development and adoption of advanced modern imaging techniques such as optical coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescence-based intraocular imaging, and ultrasound-based imaging. These modalities aim to better identify key physiological characteristics, including retinal vasculature, in the hopes of improving early detection and treatment of these disease processes.
We recently pioneered a non-contact, non-invasive, optical absorption-based imaging technique called Photoacoustic Remote Sensing Microscopy (PARS® Microscopy). This technique enables ultra-sensitive and accurate structural and functional imaging of intraocular vasculatures. PARS® technology provides a direct accurate measurement of oxygen saturation (sO2) which is essential information for early detection and understanding age-related vision loss problems. Our team is working to customize PARS® microscopy to be combined with currently available imaging systems in clinical ophthalmology such as OCT. We believe that by bringing PARS® to the ophthalmology clinic we will positively impact patient outcomes.
In-vivo imaging of ocular vasculature within different FOVs. (A) vasculature in the peripheral iris, covering an area of 3 mm × 3 mm. (B) The enlarged capillary networks represented in the blue region. (C) vasculature of the inner iris, (E) Enlarged vasculature of the green triangular area of part (c). (D & F) Branches of retinal vasculature network. (G) Snapshots from vascular network near the limbal and episcleral region in the mouse eye. The relative PARS® signal intensity values are shown in color bar. [Opt. Lett. 45, 6254-6257 (2020)].
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Rapid PARS® captures of murine iris vasculature.