DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF RETINAL PHOTOCOAGULATION

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DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's abstract):Laser-induced photocoagulation is used routinely to treat a variety of retinal disorders such as diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachments, maculapathies, and glaucoma. However, despite its wide usage, the procedure is not problem-free. It is difficult, prior to treatment, to predict the effectiveness of a specific dosage of laser irradiation.Furthermore, excessive local irradiation can lead to rupture of vessels, hemorrhage,macular pucker, and post-coagulation retinal detachments. As a first step towards remedying these difficulties, the Phase I research effort demonstrated the feasibility of developing a simple device that: 1) monitors the changing reflectivity of the lesion created during the laser exposure, and 2) uses that information to automatically optimize the applied light dose. The objectives of Phase II are to: 1) complete the development of a prototype retrofittable clinical photocoagulation monitor and control instrument, 2) develop control algorithms and evaluate the instrument's performance through in vivo experiments using rabbits; and 3) install the monitor portion of the instrument in an ophthalmology clinic and acquire data from human patients that will verify the efficacy of the automatic control procedure. Successful completion of these tasks will lay a firm foundation for subsequent clinical tests of the complete instrument and ultimate commercialization of it.