Article
Monitoring of photoreceptor survival by AO-SLO
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Published: | October 1, 2015 |
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With the adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AO-SLO), individual retinal photoreceptor cells can be made visible in the living human eye. Combined with real-time eye tracking and fast optical switches, the AO-SLO acts as the technological platform to also allow micro-stimulation of targeted retinal areas. First psychophysical data reveal that single photoreceptor cells can be indeed tested repeatedly and in isolation. The talk discusses results studying the relationship between visual function of single cone photoreceptor cells and their reflection properties in AO-SLO images in healthy subjects. From that it becomes apparent that we cannot simply infer visual function from visible structure, and that we still have to learn how to interpret AO-SLO images showing conspicuous features. Adding some means of functional tests of photoreceptor health will be especially important when judging photoreceptor integrity in cases of retinal disease.