Measurement of Retinal Nerves and Blood Vessels as Markers for Type 1 Diabetes

Project Summary AbstractThere is currently a significant need for new non invasive imaging techniques able to accurately quantify biomarkers for early detectiondiagnosisand quantification of complications in typediabetesT Dsuch as diabetic retinopathyDRPhysical Sciences IncPSIproposes to develop an imaging platform based on a new detection arrangement retrofitted to an existing high resolution retinal imaging platform that includes adaptive optics assisted scanning laser ophthalmoscopyAO SLOand Optical Coherence TomographyOCTThe new technique will allow for visualization and quantification of blood vessels structure and nerve bundle arrangement with exquisite details afforded by AOThe proposed detection scheme will be first tested and demonstrated using an existing multimodal AO retinal imagerMAORIin Phase I and then in Phase II a new MAORI prototype will be developed specifically for imaging particular characteristics of retinal alterations induces by diabetesSpecific biomarkers for T D complications will be defined based on patient data acquired by our collaborators from Boston Childrenandapos s HospitalAboutpatients with different stages of DR will be imaged during the Phase II ProgramPSI has a longsuccessful history of developing and commercializing high resolution retinal imagers for the ophthalmic research marketPSI and our collaborators have recognized that one of the main impediments in developing a clinical market for AO SLOandapos s is that there have been few in depth studies on the medical application of AO imagers for disease diagnosis and tracking the efficacy of treatmentsDespite a relatively large number of research publications on the benefits of AO on understanding fundamental aspects of visionso far AO has not gained traction in the clinical marketHowevergiven the large incidence of neurovascular diseasesit is possible that the proposed application to use highresolution retinal imaging to investigate the retinal changes due to diabetes will generate significant drive to bring AO closer to the clinical marketThereforePSI is requesting funding for developing this technology with a potentially significant impact on vision research and subsequently on the clinical diagnosis and management of DR Project NarrativeComplications of typediabetesT Dadversely affect the retinathe most metabolically active tissue in the bodywhich is among the most vulnerable to T DThe proposed research will provide a new tool for researchers and clinicians to investigate and monitor changes of retinal microstructures due to disease progression or response to treatment