DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF RETINAL PHOTOCOAGULATION

描述（改编自申请人摘要）：激光诱导 光凝固法常规用于治疗各种视网膜疾病 例如糖尿病性视网膜病、视网膜脱离、黄斑病变， 青光眼 然而，尽管其广泛使用，该程序并不 毫无问题 在治疗之前，很难预测 特定剂量的激光照射的有效性。此外， 过度的局部照射可导致血管破裂， 出血、黄斑皱褶和凝固后视网膜脱离。作为 解决这些困难的第一步，第一阶段研究 这项工作证明了开发一种简单装置的可行性，该装置： 1)监测在治疗过程中产生的病变的反射率变化， 激光曝光，以及2）使用该信息来自动优化 应用光剂量。 第二阶段的目标是：1）完成 可改装的临床光凝监测仪原型的研制 和控制仪器，2）开发控制算法并评估 通过使用兔子的体内实验的仪器性能;以及3） 在眼科诊所安装仪器的监视器部分 并从人类患者中获取数据，以验证 自动控制程序 成功完成这些任务将 为后续完整的临床试验打下坚实的基础 并最终实现商业化。

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.