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Using methods originally developed by astronomers to view stars more clearly through Earth’s atmosphere, optometry researchers at Indiana University have taken the first undistorted microscopic images of a part of the eye involved in glaucoma.
The ability to clearly view this structure — known as the trabecular meshwork — could help improve treatment for glaucoma. The work is reported in the journal of Translational Vision Science and Technology.
“Normally, clear fluid circulates inside the eye to supply nutrition and keep it ‘inflated’ to its normal shape," said Dr. Brett King, chief of advanced ocular care services and associate clinical professor at the IU School of Optometry, who co-authored the study.
“Alterations of the trabecular meshwork, which allows fluid to drain, elevate pressure in the eye, leading to glaucoma. The problem is the meshwork can only be seen poorly with the normal instruments in your doctor’s office, due to its location where the iris inserts into the wall of the eye, as well as the near-total reflection that occurs when looking through the cornea.”
The result of this low visibility is a lack of understanding about why age appears to cause the trabecular meshwork to function poorly.
It also makes it difficult to study why certain glaucoma treatments that target the trabecular meshwork — such as laser therapies or invasive surgical procedures — fail while others succeed.
More effective treatments for glaucoma are needed since the number of people with the condition worldwide is expected to rise from 76 million in 2020 to over 111 million in 2040, disproportionally affecting people in Asia and Africa.
In the U.S., it’s estimated that over 3 million people currently have glaucoma, costing the economy over $1.5 billion annually.
To view the trabecular meshwork, IU researchers modified an existing ophthalmic laser microscope with a programmable mirror able to deform in real time to correct for the eye's imperfections.
Astronomers designed the laser to correct for the same atmospheric distortions that make stars appear to twinkle.
“Thanks to this research, the ocular drainage area of the eye can now be seen with much-improved clarity, which will improve our understanding of how this essential drainage area is being altered or damaged with age,” King said.
