Fewer than half of the efforts to improve vision through laser retinal surgery succeed, but researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found a way to greatly improve the odds. Their research could benefit the nearly 20 million individuals in the U.S. alone who suffer from age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and AIDS-related CMV (cytomegalovirus) retinitis.
The new system developed at Rensselaer will allow surgeons to work from a three-dimensional image of the retina rather than a flat surface representation, and will precisely pinpoint locations on the image in real time.
Badri Roysam, professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering, and Chuck Stewart, associate professor of computer science, are developing a preliminary design for a laser surgery instrument that uses computer vision technology. They hope to have a prototype in the next two years.
"Currently, the success rate for retinal laser surgery is below 50 percent because surgeons don't have the spatial referencing tools to accurately aim the laser during surgery," Roysam explained. The new system developed at Rensselaer will allow surgeons to work from a three-dimensional image of the retina rather than a flat surface representation, and will precisely pinpoint locations on the image in real time.
"We like to think of this as a sort of GPS (Global Positioning System) for the eye," says Roysam. "Via this server, clinicians will be able to secure retinal mosaics and movie-like animations that can help detect changes in the retina."
Roysam and Stewart plan to have a Web server running by this summer that will allow ophthalmologists from around the world to upload retinal images.
[Contact: Badri Roysam, Chuck Stewart ]
12-Apr-2001
