A focus on the imaging of the retina

Abstract

The eye is unique in providing opportunities in medical diagnostics because direct visualization of the anatomy and pathology of nervous tissue is possible in vivo. Since the introduction of the ophthalmoscope in 1851, noninvasive retinal imaging has been exploited and continuously improved. Imaging of the ocular fundus has been revolutionized over the last decades by novel technologies such as optical coherence tomography, its extensions and adaptive optics imaging. In vivo noninvasive imaging in microscopical resolution has greatly facilitated patient care and has provided a profound understanding of pathomechanisms in retinal diseases.

KEYWORDS:

• color fundus photography
• fundus angiography
• optical coherence tomography
• scanning laser ophthalmoscopy
• adaptive optics
• ultra-widefield imaging
• fundus autofluorescence
• optical coherence tomographic angiography
• polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography
• medical image analysis

Acknowledgement

The authors thank Drs Sandra Rezar and Andreas Pollreisz for their contribution.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

P Roberts has received support from Canon (Tokyo, Japan). U Schmidt-Erfurth receives consultancy, lecture fees and travel support from Alcon Laboratories, Inc. (Fort Worth, Texas), Bayer Healthcare (Vienna, Austria), Novartis (Basel, Swizterland), Allergan (Irvine, California) and Boehringer (Ingelheim, Germany). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.