CAREER: Functional imaging to prevent blindness

1055379张拟议的研究旨在设计和优化一种新型的光学视网膜成像技术，通过将光声眼底镜、光学相干断层扫描、共焦扫描激光眼底镜和自发荧光成像自然融合到单个多模式系统中，实现所需的功能成像能力。这种多模式系统可以综合表征视网膜的光吸收、光散射和自体荧光特性，这些特性可以与视网膜中的血氧饱和度、血流、色素含量和代谢率相关。然后，应用这一新的成像技术，在缺血性视网膜病变大鼠模型中检测、优化和验证血流动力学阈值，以填补DR早期检测的空白。最后，将测量视网膜色素上皮(RPE)中两种关键色素黑色素和脂褐素的含量及其在单个RPE细胞中的含量比例，作为RPE功能障碍的危险因素，从而导致AMD。在项目结束时，项目团队将开发一种独一无二的多模式视网膜成像技术，确定最早出现功能性DR的患者，并获得用于进一步评估RPE功能障碍的基线色素比率。

1055379ZhangThe proposed research aims to design and optimize a novel optical retinal imaging technology that can achieve the desired functional imaging capabilities by naturally fusing a photoacoustic ophthalmoscopy, optical coherence tomography, confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy and autofluorescence imaging into a single multimodal system. This multimodal system can comprehensively characterize the optical absorption, optical scattering, and autofluorescence properties, which can be correlated to hemoglobin oxygen saturation, blood flow, pigment content, and metabolic rate in the retina. Then, by applying this novel imaging technology, a hemodynamic threshold will be detected, optimized, and verified in an ischemic retinopathy rat model to fill the gap of early detection of DR. And finally, the content of the two key pigments in the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE), melanin and lipofuscin, and their content ratio in single RPE cells will be measured to be used as a risk factor of RPE dysfunction, which leads to AMD. At the end of the project, the project team will have developed a one-of-a-kind multimodal retinal imaging technology, identified the earliest functional onset of DR, and acquired the baseline pigment ratio for further evaluation of RPE dysfunction.