Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the most common causes of vision loss in children, and to address the concern, engineers from Duke University have developed a handheld device to help improve ROP diagnosis and treatment, which causes blindness in premature babies.
Using the spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT) in the device, the engineers have managed to create a 3-D image of the back of the eye, a system which could change the way we identify eye conditions in infants. The SD OCT using a narrow beam of light creates a 3D high-res map detailing the retina’s layers, similar to like looking into an aquarium from the side, where every fish and detail is clearly visible.
This new technique courtesy multiple scans can take pictures more than 40 times faster than before and project the best details to figure out the eye’s condition, which was not possible with the ophthalmoscope, which was pretty slower and couldn’t provide the best details. The handheld device has been put to the test and as Duke Eye Center ophthalmologist Cynthia Toth says, it is to determine what role the system could play in treatment decisions.
Right now we’re analyzing data on more than 20 infants to identify how the SC OCT images of ROP relate to the usual examination and to decisions we make about treatment. What we hope to learn is whether what we see in the infant’s eyes today will help us to predict how their disease and vision will be in the future.
