Database of Retinal Images in the Visually Impaired
Database of retinal images in the visually impaired: Drusen and age-related macular degeneration
Funded since 2017
Aim
With a large proportion of older adults living longer, the number of individuals diagnosed with low vision is increasing. The use of Optical Coherence Tomography/Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope (OCT/SLO) to diagnose retinal disease has become commonplace over the last 10 years. But there is currently no OCT/SLO database for pathological vision. Our goal is to develop a clinical database of individuals who have drusen (i.e., lipid deposits found under the retina), or have been diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), with information on how the structure of the diseased retina changes over time, as well as measures of visual and cognitive functional performance.
Description
Fundus photographs and retinal scans will be taken using the same Optos OCT/SLO model located at three trial sites (MAB-Mackay Rehabilitation Center, Optometry Clinic at the University of Montreal, and Lighthouse Institute, New York). For each individual entry in the database, demographic and diagnostic information will be available. All OCT/SLO images will be graded according to the Age-Related Eye Disease Study standard, in addition to drusen number and size, geographic atrophy severity, pigment mottling severity, and presence of choroidal neovascularization. Retinal topography and OCT/SLO raster scans will provide a cross-sectional look at the affected retinas. Fixation stability will be recorded using the SLO function and presents four different tasks designed to reproduce typical everyday vision tasks, each task lasting 10 seconds. The tasks are cross-fixation, face recognition, visual search and reading. These tasks in addition to retinal scans will be used to determine the eccentricity of a preferred retinal locus of the anatomical fovea and can be used as an outcome measure for clinical interventions in the visually impaired.
Impact
The database will be available to faculty who train eye care practitioners and rehabilitation specialists as a teaching tool. Students will be able to become familiar with the retina and a variety of AMD-related pathologies before they begin working with patients. The database will also be accessible by researchers interested in studying AMD from basic science to epidemiology, to study how drusen and AMD impact visual and cognitive functional performance.
Accessibility
The common infrastructure is easily accessible to all network members upon request. The database will also be available online in 2018 (see http://cvl.concordia.ca for more information).
Responsible
Aaron Johnson, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Concordia University / Research Resident, MAB-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre of the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
Contact persons
Aaron Johnson – aaron.johnson@concordia.ca
Stephanie Pietrangelo – stephanie.pietrangelo@umontreal.ca
Sources of funding
Vision Health Research Network
