Page 34 - The Indian Optician Digital Edition January-February 2022
P. 34
RESEARCHERS ROBOTIC SCANNER EYE IMAGING
USE HEALTHY
SKIN TO CREATE
RETINAL CELLS
A new ongoing research
at the Newcastle University
may lead to treatments being DUKE’S NEWLY
developed for common DEVELOPED OCT SCANNER
inherited eye conditions. The PHOTO CREDIT: DUKE UNIVERSITY
researchers are using the skin
of retinitis pigmentosa (RP)
patients to create healthy
retinal cells in such patients.
The group comprising 12 A new robotic imaging tool that can automatically detect
researchers from the University and scan a patient's eyes for markers of different eye diseases has
is using stem cells from the been developed by a team of engineers and ophthalmologists at the
skin of RP patients who have Duke University.
mutations in the PRPF31 gene
to explore the patients’ genetic According to a report appearing in Nature Biomedical
make-up. By doing so, they Engineering, the optical coherence tomography, or OCT, scanner is
aim to identify how mutations attached to a robotic arm and can automatically track and image a
can affect cells and hope to patient’s eyes in less than a minute. The images produced are said to
recreate defects that lead to be as clear as the traditional scanners available in specialised clinics.
patients developing RP. To use the new scanner, a patient approaches the machine and
While the first stage of the stands in front of the robotic arm. 3D cameras placed to the left and
study was funded by Fight right of the robot help to find the patient in space, while smaller
for Sight, the second stage is cameras in the robotic arm search for landmarks on the eye to
supported by Retina UK. precisely position the scanner. The system is able to scan both the
macula (the part of the retina responsible for our central vision) and
“For years, there has been cornea (the clear front part of the eye), sites where many eye diseases
no known cure for RP – but occur. It takes the tool less than 10 seconds to scan and image each
we hope we can change eye, and the entire process is complete in less than 50 seconds.
that,” said Majlinda Lako,
Professor of stem cell science “The robotic arm gives us the flexibility of handheld OCT scanners,
who is heading the project. but we don't need to worry about any operator tremor,” said Mark
“We are excited to be sharing Draelos, a postdoctoral fellow in the biomedical engineering
news of our study and our department. “If a person moves, the robot moves with it. As long as
innovative model to help the scanner is aligned to within a centimetre of where it needs to
identify the cause of this be on your pupil, the scanner can get an image that is as good as a
condition, with the hope of tabletop scanner.”
eventually stopping it from Also, as there is no physical contact between the patient and
affecting future generations. the system, there is no concern about hygiene and infectious
We really believe what we are diseases that arise with the shared chin and headrest in traditional
doing here could be really OCT systems.
transformational for medical The team has already begun the next phase of work in the clinic,
research of any kind,” said Lako.
where they have started to image the eyes of volunteers to continue
to refine the robot's targeting.
| JAN-FEB 2022 | 30 OPHTHALMIC NEWS
