3D eye imaging enters neurology offices

Heidelberg Engineering is introducing SPECTRALIS, then office-based imaging device for tracking and measuring axonal change, at the 2010 meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Toronto. The SPECTRALIS Tracking Laser Tomographer uses its on-board Nsite Axonal Analytics to track and measure axonal changes within the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) by capturing high resolution cross-sectional images of the eye.

Numerous peer-reviewed clinical studies have been published in the last several years investigating the relationship between RNFL and neurodegenerative diseases, especially multiple sclerosis. Patients with multiple sclerosis have been shown to have a thinner RNFL than healthy patients, and this is true for patients with and without prior episodes of optic neuritis.¹ In addition, RNFL thickness has been shown to correlate with symptoms measured in physical disability scores such as the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). ¹

“Even though SPECTRALIS offers one hundred times higher resolution than an MRI, we don’t expect our instrument to replace the role of MRI for neurologists,” noted Dr Kester Nahen, vice president of global marketing and business development at Heidelberg Engineering, “but we do believe that having an office-based instrument which can measure unmyelinated nerve loss in a fast and easy way will be a valuable asset for helping to evaluate patients with neurodegenerative conditions.”

References .Fisher J et al.,Ophthalmology Feb(13):324-332 (2007).