Advanced adaptive optics instrumentation for ophthalmic imaging and function testing: the single cell approach to visual function and dysfunction

• Applicant: Dr. Wolf Harmening
• Subject Area: Ophthalmology
• Term: from 2013 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 237915741

Key developments in in vivo neuroretinal imaging have increased our understanding of how vision works and how diseases undermine our ability to see. For example, incorporating the concept of low-coherence interferometry to imaging paved the way for optical coherence tomography (OCT), which when applied to the eye is capable of delivering images of ocular structure with near-cellular resolution. Commercial OCT systems have revolutionized clinical practice. The application of adaptive optics to overcome the eye’s imperfections has now provided imaging systems sufficient access to visualize individual cells in the living human retina. In particular, the adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) provides clinicians and vision scientists with unparalleled resolution to probe the basis of vision at the cellular level in vivo. By incorporating image-based eye tracking and fast light switching control, the AOSLO can also be used to deliver light to targeted cells on the retina, thereby creating the unique possibility to relate retinal structure to visual function directly. This proposal aims to design an AOSLO based micro-stimulator that can be routinely used in a clinical environment. In the clinic, the AOSLO will help characterize retinal disease progression earlier and monitor pharmaceutical intervention at the level of individual photoreceptors in living subjects. This strategy lessens the need of animal models or inefficient, protracted histological validation in the development phase of novel treatments for retinal diseases. In addition to clinical applications, cell-level access to living neuronal tissue opens the door to study the basics of visual function with psychophysical methods at a previously inaccessible microscopic scale.

• DFG Programme: Independent Junior Research Groups