Research that more than meets the eye
New Technique Analyses Blood Flow in Glaucoma Patients
Our eyes also come under considerable pressure at times – and suffer enormous damage as a result. Specifically, the nerve cells in the retina are affected by increased eye pressure (glaucoma). This leads to irreversible damage in the optic nerve head, the destruction of the nerve cells and visual field defects. However, raised eye pressure can also potentially cause a reduction in blood flow to the retinal tissue. The extent to which this mechanism is responsible for the death of the nerve cells is disputed. While raised eye pressure is acknowledged as the main cause, there are increasing indications that the retinal blood flow can also be a contributing factor. Due to the lack of reliable measuring methods, it was not possible to test retinal blood flow up to now. A research team at the Medical University of Vienna (MUW), with the support of the Austrian Science Fund FWF, has changed this and is now embarking on an initial study to confirm the role played by vascular factors in glaucoma.
Flow Measurement
Commenting on the study, its leader, Professor Leopold Schmetterer from the Center of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering at the MUW, explains: "For the first time we will be able to measure the absolute retinal blood flow in glaucoma patients. To do this, we are testing the hypothesis that the blood flow in the retina is reduced in glaucoma. At the same time we will also evaluate the technology we developed – in particular its suitability for the long-term analysis of retinal blood flow in individual patients."
The technology optimised by Prof. Schmetterer and his team is called "Fourier Domain Optical Doppler Tomography" (FDODT) and involves the further development of optical coherence tomography (OCT). In addition to recording cross-section images of the retina, the technique can now also be used to quantify the blood flow. Thanks to further optimisations by Prof. Schmetterer and his team, the method can now record the absolute blood flow in the retina and thereby provide information about its influence on glaucoma.
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