Wider Horizons With Fast Retinal Mapping

A panoramic retinal imaging device enables wide-angle mapping of the retina in less than a second, without mandatory pupil dilation.

The P200MA, manufactured by Optos (Dunfermline, Scotland), is composed of a scanning laser system that combines two low-powered lasers into a single beam that is then projected onto the patient's retina and manipulated through a 200o scan angle. Light reflected from the retina is returned through the scanning system and converted to electrical impulses by highly sensitive photo-diodes. These impulses are in turn digitized and formatted to create a digital wide-field image of the retina. The scanning laser ophthalmoscope device then uses the imaging system to create a "virtual scanning point” inside the patient's eye. The device has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The wide-field retinal image, dubbed "optomap,” encompasses approximately 82% of the patient's retina. Image capture takes a quarter of a second once the patient is positioned relative to the device, and since the device is designed to be able to take an image through a 2 mm aperture, no obligatory dilation is necessary. Since the device employs two independent low-power laser sources that operate at discrete wavelengths and are diffracted less than white light, the device can capture images more successfully through cataracts than with white light, which tends to scatter when it tries to penetrate the cataract.

Additionally, Optos has developed propriety viewing software that enables the optomap to be extensively reviewed, manipulated, measured, and annotated in the presence of the patient, thus enhancing the practitioner's information and the patient's education. Patient demographic data and disease information can be recorded during every optomap, and is capable of being collated into a useable data base. The company regularly updates this software in order to improve the ease of use of the device and to increase the quantity and quality of information that the practitioner can obtain when reviewing the optomap image.



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