INFRARED FUNDUS VIDEOANGIOGRAPHY SYSTEMS

AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (AMD) IS ONE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF BLINDNESS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE DEVELOPED WORLD. CHOROIDAL NEOVASCULARIZATION IS THE MOST FREQUENT CAUSE OF SEVERE VISUAL LOSS IN PATIENTS WITH AMD. INFRARED FUNDUS VIDEOANGIOGRAPHY USING INDOCYANINE GREEN DYECAN PROVIDE AN IMPROVED MEANS OF DETECTING CHOROIDAL NEOVASCULARIZATION. THE USE OF INDOCYANINE GREEN PERMITS VISUALIZATION BY FLUORESCENCE OF THE CHOROIDAL VESSELS BEHIND THE RETINA, THEREBY ENABLING EARLY DETECTION AND TREATMENT OF THE CONDITION. IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS APPROACH REQUIRES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FUNDUS CAMERA CAPABLE OF DETECTION IN THE INFRARED PORTIONOF THE SPECTRUM (ABOVE 820 NANOMETERS) AND AN EFFICIENT ILLUMINATION SOURCE PROVIDING EXCITATION RADIATION AT THE ABSORPTION PEAK OF THE DYE (805 NM). IN THE PHASE I STUDY, A STANDARD FUNDUS CAMERA WILL BE MODIFIED BY THE ADDITION OF A SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE LASER ILLUMINATION SOURCE, AN INFRARED SENSITIVE VIDEO CAMERA AND MONITOR, AND A COMPUTERIZED IMAGE-PROCESSING SYSTEM.