Scanning laser ophthalmoscopes (SLO) offer many advantages over standard ophthalmoscopes, such as high contrast and high resolution fundus imaging without dilation, simultaneous fundus imaging and indocyanine green (ICG) angiography, and inspection of specific vessels and retinal defects. Also, SLOs are very useful for presenting stimuli for visual assessment because of a very large depth of focus, resolution, and optical transmission through cloudy media. One problem, however, with SLOs is that they are expensive, are table-mounted, and require special handling. During Phase-I a prototype will be built, based on LDT's existing SLO unit and pilot data will be collected in a clinical setting. With relatively simple hardware modifications, the device will be of considerably reduced size and will be able to provide fields of view ranging from gross inspection of the patient's fundus to imaging localized lesions. The long-term goal is to develop a portable or hand-held, compact version of the SLO with multiple functions for easy manipulation in a head-free environment. The increased functionality will enable use in special clinical settings and with groups of patients for whom current SLO designs are less suitable, presenting new special diagnostic capabilities for pediatric and convalescent populations that would otherwise not exist. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The proposed modified instrument will expand the applicability of clinically successful SLO technology into fields of eye care, that until now have remained inaccessible, mainly due to size and weight limitations of currently available instruments.
