BluePeak™ metabolic maps: a non-invasive RPE health check |
Geographic Atrophy |
BluePeak imaging utilizes blue laser light technology to provide a fast, non-invasive
and quantitative map of the metabolic activity of the RPE. The BluePeak images
show areas of geographic atrophy or other dystrophy of the RPE and disrupted
RPE metabolism. Clinicians can now get a functional indicator of retinal health
and combine it with structural information from SD-OCT. |
The picture created by lipofuscin |
Reading the lipofuscin map |
A normal part of RPE function is digesting waste products generated by photoreceptors.
Lipofuscin, one of the metabolites in this process, accumulates naturally
with age in RPE cells. In certain pathologies, over-accumulation of lipofuscin
can lead to cellular toxicity and eventually cell death. Lipofuscin is also a natural fluorophore that glows when exposed to a peak wavelength of blue light (488 nm). BluePeak imaging captures the amount of lipofuscin fluorescence emitted from the retina, creating a metabolic map based on the presence or absence of lipofuscin. |
In a healthy eye, there is an even distribution of lipofuscin throughout the retina
that forms a characteristic pattern around the fovea (Figure 1). When an RPE
cell dies, it can no longer process or store lipofuscin; these areas of atrophy
appear as dark regions in BluePeak images (Figure 2). When RPE cells have an
abnormally high concentration of lipofuscin they fluoresce and appear as white
areas in BluePeak maps (Figure 2); recent work by Prof. Frank Holz, (University
of Bonn, Germany) and others indicate that this excess of lipofuscin may indicate
cellular malfunction and may be predictive of future atrophy. |
Healthy Eye |
Figure 1 |
Figure 2 |
