Technology

Imetab technology

Imetab uses a metabolic scanning laser ophthalmoscope (mSLO) to generate a conventional looking image of the back of the eye with the additional colour metabolic image information about the blood oxygen content (United States 7134754).

Laser light is scanned across the retina. The reflected light is filtered to isolate the haemoglobin-modified light. The filtered light, from 760 nm and 830 nm wavelengths, is processed to determine an isoreflective point and points of differential light absorption.

Objective assessment of retinal function is obtained by time resolving the retinal metabolic image data over the functional time interval of a heartbeat. The retinal metabolic image changes, in response to green laser stimulus optical signals, are isolated by image subtraction from the background functional retinal metabolic image data obtained over a heartbeat (United States 7502639).

Imetab technology develops; a subjective retinal metabolic image, an objective assessment of retinal metabolic function and an objective alternative to visual field-testing.

The metabolic imaging will improve the efficiency of ophthalmologists to identify early eye disease and monitor progressive changes in individuals with common blinding eye diseases.

The retina is sequentially scanned by laser light with wavelengths selected to provide haemoglobin oxygenation image contrast.