Laser photocoagulation of the retina has been performed for more than 40 years and has enabled the denaturation of retinal layers by the deposition of heat in tissue. However, for treatment of pathologies associated retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), excessive damage of adjacent tissue, especially the damage of the photoreceptor layer is considered to be disproportionate.
Selective Retina Therapy (SRT) using microsecond laser pulses specifically targets RPE cells while sparing the surrounding tissue, to prevent long term damage, scarring and scotoma. Different approaches for control of minimally invasive treatment have been pursued. However, since SRT effects are ophthalmoscopically invisible a device for high precision application, documentation as well as a dosing control is required.
Coaxial integration of a 532 nm μs-pulsed treatment laser enhanced the clinical diagnostic SPECTRALIS system (Heidelberg Engineering) to become a multimodal treatment platform for image-guided coagulation and selective retina therapy.
This combined optical coherence tomography (OCT)-SRT system provides precise pre- and post-therapeutic diagnostics for planning and supervision. Furthermore, it has the potential to limit the laser energy deposition used locally for individual treatment via detection of microbubble formation to protect the neuronal retina from overexposure and collateral damage during selective removal of the retinal pigment epithelium.
Copyright 2019, The Author(s).