Blindness can be Now Detected and Prevented at Early Stage

Touchless technology – the non-invasive, non-contact laser imaging system enables early detection and treatment of major eye diseases that cause blindness, as developed by engineers at the University of Waterloo, reported as “Functional and structural ophthalmic imaging using noncontact multimodal photoacoustic remote sensing microscopy and optical coherence tomography” in the journal Scientific Reports. Age-related eye diseases like macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma typically show no symptoms in their early stages and are diagnosed only after the vision is irreversibly affected. This new patented technology – photoacoustic remote sensing (PARS) uses multicolored lasers to almost instantly image human eye tissue without touching it.

The Touchless Technology

"We're optimistic that our technology, by providing functional details of the eye such as oxygen saturation and oxygen metabolism, may be able to play a critical role in early diagnosis and management of these blinding diseases," says Parsin Haji Reza, director of the PhotoMedicine Labs at Waterloo.

The technology dramatically improves both patient comfort and the accuracy of test results. With its promising results, the technology anticipates its expansion in microscopic analyses of breast, gastroenterological, skin, and other cancerous tissues, and to enable real-time imaging to guide surgeons during the removal of brain tumors. The study is also set to seek its entry into clinical trials in 2 years.

"PARS may move us beyond the current gold standard in ophthalmological imaging. For the first time, not just in ophthalmology but in the entire medical field, diagnosis and treatment of disease could be made prior to structural change and functional loss," says Dr. Richard Weinstein, an ophthalmologist, and co-founder of the Ocular Health Centre.

Source-Medindia