The influence of bleaching effects on fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscopy (FLIO) has hardly been studied so far.

Therefore, scientists from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics together with the University Hospital Jena conducted a study with 21 healthy volunteers. Subjects were placed in a dark-adapted state as well as in a condition of bleached visual pigments with the help of devices developed in Ilmenau. Immediately thereafter, FLIO measurements were carried out. For some fluorescence lifetimes, statistically significant changes were found caused by bleaching, especially in the macula. These changes are <10% and significantly smaller than all previously found disease-related changes in fluorescence lifetime. Bleaching therefore plays no role in the clinical use of FLIO.

M. Klemm, L. Sauer, S. Klee, D. Link, S. Peters, M. Hammer, D. Schweitzer, J. Haueisen, "Bleaching effects and fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscopy", Biomedical Optics Express, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 1446-1461, Mar 1 2019.

Download: https://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.10.001446
Contact: Dr.-Ing. Matthias Klemm