THIS PROPOSAL IS IN RESPONSE TO NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE OBJECTIVES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS FOR IMPROVED DIAGNOSISOF RETINAL VASCULAR DISORDERS.

THIS PROPOSAL IS IN RESPONSE TO NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE OBJECTIVES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS FOR IMPROVED DIAGNOSISOF RETINAL VASCULAR DISORDERS. COMPLETION OF PHASE II AND III FOLLOWING PHASE I INVESTIGATIONS PROPOSED HERE WILL RESULT IN A COMPLETE VIDEO ACQUISITION, PROCESSING, REVIEW AND ARCHIVING SYSTEM FOR CLINICAL OPHTHALMOLOGY, AND A LOW COST IMAGE ACQUISITION AND PROCESSING SYSTEM FOR USE IN PRIVATE OPHTHALMOLOGY PRACTICES. WHILE PARTS OF SUCH A SYSTEM HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED BY OTHERS IN THE PAST, IT IS PAR TECHNOLOGY'S BELIEF THAT RECENT ADVANCES IN COMPUTER AND IMAGE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY, PLUS THE COMPANY'S BROAD EXPERIENCE IN BUILDING IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEMS, WILL FOR THE FIRST TIME BRING THESE TECHNOLOGIES TOGETHER IN A COMMERCIALLY VIABLE PRODUCT. THE PROPOSED STUDY INVOLVES APPLICATION OF IMAGE ACQUISITION/STORAGE DEVICES AND PROCESSING ALGORITHMS TO BOTH TEST PATTERNS AND RETINAL IMAGES (35MM SLIDES), AND QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE EVALUATION OF RESULTS BY IMAGE SCIENTISTS AND OPHTHALMOLOGISTS. EXPECTED RESULTS INCLUDE SPECIFICATIONS WHICH ACQUISITION, DISPLAY, AND STORAGE DEVICES MUST MEET IN ORDER TO BE CLINICALLY USEFUL; ANALYSES OF CAPABILITIES AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF CURRENTLY-AVAILABLE DEVICES; AND DEFINITION OF A SUITE OF IMAGE ENHANCEMENT AND PROCESSING ALGORITHMS WHICH CAN IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF ANGIOGRAMS COLLECTED THROUGH CLOUDY MEDIA AND AUTOMATICALLY DETECT AND ANALYZE VARIOUS TYPES OF RETINAL ABNORMALITIES. COMPUTER ACQUISITION, PROCESSING, AND ARCHIVING OF ANGIOGRAMS CAN PROVIDE FOR IMMEDIATE REVIEW OF COLLECTED IMAGERY, RESULTINGIN IMPROVED IMAGE QUALITY AND POSSIBLY ALLOWING LESS SKILLEDPERSONNEL TO PERFORM THE ACQUISITION. ANGIOGRAMS CAN BE COLLECTED WITH LOWER LEVELS OF ILLUMINATION THAN CURRENTLY USED FOR FILM, REDUCING RISK. NEW HIGH DENSITY VIDEO GREATLY REDUCE RETRIEVAL TIME OF PATIENT DATA. IMAGE PROCESSING ALGORITHMS COULD IMPROVE THE DIAGNOSTIC VALUE OF FLUORESCEIN ANGIOGRAMS.