Non-mydriatic DR screening

At this year's World Ophthalmology Congress, Dr Marcus Kernt tackled the subject of diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening using ultra-widefield scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO), which he believes is a valid alternative to the current gold standard.

ETDRS type 7-field stereo colour fundus photography is the current method used for imaging in (DR) but according to Dr Kernt, this technique has drawbacks such as expense, time-consumption and dependence on examiner experience. "The alternative to this is non-mydriatic ultra-widefield screening," he said.

To prove the viability of SLO as an alternative, Dr Kernt and colleagues performed some research with the Optomap system (Optos, Dunfermline, UK).

They found that the three lasers of different wavelengths in the system enabled them to obtain a coloured retina image. Additionally, they were able to view a much larger area in one single scan.

When they compared its efficacy of grading DR against that of the current gold standard, Dr Kernt and colleagues found that there was a good agreement.

"Optomap shows good correlation with what we can see from the ETDRS-7 field, and has sufficient quality to assist in the screening of DR," Dr Kernt concluded.

If you would like to read more on Dr Kernt's work with ultra-widefield SLO read the full article in the May print issue of OTEurope.