Diabetic Retinopathy

Retinal blood flow and oxygenation is being studied by Dr. Bahram Khoobehi. The development of a non-invasive means of measuring oxygen saturation in the human eye would be useful in the diagnosis and monitoring of numerous disorders, including diabetic retinopathy, arterial venous occlusion disease, and glaucoma. In these studies, a practical system to evaluate oxygen saturation in the retina and optic nerve head using a recent innovation, hyperspectral imaging, is being developed. There is great potential for clinical application of this innovative technology in the early diagnosis of and monitoring of therapy for ocular vascular diseases which can eventually lead to loss of vision. Dr. Khoobehi’s research involving retinal blood flow utilizes imaging of fluorescing blood cells to measure the velocity and volume of blood flow in the vessels of the retina. Information gained by this method can also aid in the diagnosis and monitoring of blinding eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy.

Dr. Hilary Thompson is developing a computer-assisted management model of ophthalmic image data for medical decision support in diabetic retinopathy. With this system, images of patients’ retinas can be transmitted from remote locations to be evaluated by specialists, in order to make informed decisions about the need for immediate versus future intervention to prevent disease progression and blindness. In addition to the data transmission function, computer-aided detection of features signaling the need for physician attention, as well as integration of family and patient history data, would provide a medical-record like database capable of automated risk assessment to determine which patients are at the highest risk of onset or progression of diabetic retinopathy. In the future, this approach may also be adapted for the diagnosis and monitoring of other ophthalmic diseases such as glaucoma.