Fundus autofluorescence (FAF) imaging is commonly used in ophthalmic clinics for
diagnosis and monitoring of retinal diseases. Lipofuscin in the retinal pigment
epithelium (RPE), with A2E as its most abundant component and a visual cycle
by-product, is the major fluorophore of FAF. Lipofuscin accumulates with age and
is implicated in degenerative retinal diseases. The amount of lipofuscin in RPE
can be assessed by quantitative measurement of FAF. However, the currently
available FAF imaging technologies are not capable of quantifying the absolute
intensity of FAF, which is essential for comparing images from different
individuals, and from the same individual over time. One major technical
difficulty is to compensate the signal attenuation by ocular media anterior to
the RPE (pre-RPE media). FAF intensity is also influenced by fluctuations in
imaging conditions such as illumination power and detector sensitivity, all of
which need to be compensated. In this review, we present the concept and
research progress of using visible-light optical coherence tomography-based
simultaneous multimodal retinal imaging to compensate signal attenuation by
pre-RPE media and the influence of parameters of the acquisition system for
accurate measurement of FAF intensities.
Impact statement
Quantitative fundus autofluorescence imaging with simultaneous visible-light
optical coherence tomography-based multimodal technology has potential
significant impact on the diagnosis and monitoring the progression of
retinal diseases.
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