Retinal imaging breakthrough

Topical Endoscopic Fundal Imaging (TEFI) offers a rapid, comprehensive and non-invasive method of monitoring retinal disease progression, according to a study published in the December issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

David Copland, BSc, MSc of the academic unit of ophthalmology at the University of Bristol, UK and colleagues induced experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU), a standard preclinical model for posterior uveitis, in mouse models and then monitored the disease progression (from baseline to day 63) with TEFI, a technique developed by Michel Pâques of the University of Liège, Belgium.

TEFI was able to provide images detailed enough to pinpoint EAU disease hallmarks: the extent of disease progression was confirmed by histological assessment and flow cytometry. The level of retinal leukocyte infiltrates shown by TEFI was significant before the disease manifested clinically; fulminant events and cell infiltrates were shown to resolve more rapidly than was demonstrated by histologic examination. Moreover, TEFI demonstrated that the number and appearance of the infiltrating leukocytes did not return to the levels that had been experienced before disease onset.

The researchers concluded that TEFI was able to provide a precise, rapid and non-invasive method of monitoring retinal disease progression, but recommended that it be used in conjunction with, rather than as a replacement for, current monitoring techniques and cell population analysis.