Performance of long-wavelength fundus autofluorescence imaging
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Performance of optimized long-wavelength fundus autofluorescence imaging in patients with retinal diseases
IRAS ID
239318
Contact name
Peter Charbel Issa
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Fundus autofluorescence imaging has become an important diagnostic tool in ophthalmology, guiding diagnosis and assessment of progression of retinal diseases. However, the imaging procedure – as currently performed – has several disadvantages. These include patient discomfort due to substantial glare during the examination, and potential light toxicity of the blue excitation light. These drawbacks could be avoided by using longer wavelength excitation light in the near-infrared range. However, such long-wavelength autofluorescence imaging is currently challenging because the autofluorescence signal is considerably lower compared to conventional blue-light autofluorescence. The resulting reduced image quality may be the main reason for the currently limited application of this technique.
The primary objective of this research will be to assess the performance of optimized long-wavelength autofluorescence imaging in patients with retinal diseases. To achieve this goal, we will first determine an optimal long wavelength excitation light, and subsequently investigate the autofluorescence signal intensity in normals and patients with different retinal diseases. In a final step, the diagnostic performance of the long-wavelength autofluorescence will be evaluated by assessing sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing a variety of degenerative retinal diseases and by comparing it to conventional autofluorescence.REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SC/0543
Date of REC Opinion
12 Nov 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion