SBIR-STTR Award

The objective of the proposed project is to develop an instrument that will generate and analyze a clinical electroretinogram and extract information that is pertinent to assessing retinal ischemia in patients with retinal vascular disease. This device will be considerably easier to operate than existing electrodiagnostic systems and will provide relevant, unambiguous information to the clinician.The device will consist of a Ganzfeld photic stimulator and corneal electrode, associated electronics, and a microcomputer. A sinusoidally varying photic stimulus will be presented to the patient while recording the electroretinogram. Algorithms encoded in software will determine if a viable signal is being recorded and, if so, will estimate the amplitude of the signal and the relationship between phase lag and frequency. These two parameters will be presented to aid the physician in determining whether or not to treat a patient to prevent the development of the blinding effects of retinal or iris neovascularization.National Eye Institute (NEI)

The objective of the proposed project is to further develop and evaluate a noninvasive instrument which will provide information which is pertinent t assessing retinal ischemia in patients with retinal vascular disease. The instrument will measure the electroretinographic response to a flickering light, extract the pertinent information, and present this information, in the form of two numbers, to the clinician. This device will be considerably easier to operate than existing electrodiagnostic systems and will provide relevant, unambiguous information to the clinician. The performance of the device will be evaluated on a population of normal subjects, patients with diabetic retinopathy, and patients with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). Measurements from the new device will be compared with information from conventional electroretinographic measurements, fundus photography and fluorescein angiography. In patients with CRVO, the measurements will be correlated with the clinical outcome o the disease. As a secondary goal of the study, novel parameters of the electroretinogram will be extracted to see if changes in waveform shape ca be correlated with progression to neovascularization in patients with retinal vascular disease.

Thesaurus Terms:
Biomedical Engineering, Instrumentation Clinically Oriented Biomedical Systems Automated, Computer Assisted Diagnosis Biomedical Systems Automated, Computer Processing Of Clinical Data Biomedical Systems Automated, Patient Monitoring (Monitor Cardiovascular Disorders, Ischemia Cardiovascular System, Angiogenesis Cardiovascular Visualization, Angiography, Fluorescein Angiography Computer, Optical Data Storage Computer Programming Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetic Oculopathy, Diabetic Retinopathy Diagnostic Tests, Non-Invasive Eye Circulatory Disorders, Retinal Circulatory Disorders Eye Disorders Diagnosis (Incl Exams) Eye Disorders Diagnosis, Fundus Photography Eye Disorders Diagnosis, Retinography, Electroretinography Human, ClinicalNational Eye Institute (NEI)