Polychromatic angiography for early detection and prevention of diabetic retinopathy-related blindness

Diabetic retinopathy, a disease of the eye that arises as a complication of diabetes, affects up to 80% of long-term diabetic patients and accounts for 12% of new cases of blindness each year. The blindness associated with this disease occurs due to leakage from the blood vessels feeding the retina. Diabetic retinopathy has few early warning signs, and there are relatively few diagnostic methods that can accurately detect leakage in the blood-retinal barrier (BRB). Multiple studies have indicated that early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy could lead to the successful prevention of blindness in up to 90% of cases. This technology, polychromatic angiography (PCA), uses multiple fluorophores associated with small, biocompatible particles of different sizes. By using particles of different sizes, PCA can detect and differentiate between large and small leakages in the blood-retinal barrier. The ability to detect small leakages, the hallmark of early retinopathy, may allow clinicians to intervene early, before much of a patient's vision has been affected.

Multiple, size-correlated fluorescent tags allow for quantitative diagnosis of extent of retinopathyQuantitative diagnosis of retinopathy allows for close monitoring of disease progression Polychromatic angiography allows for earlier diagnosis than fluorescein angiography, which may increase the effectiveness of potential treatments, preventing blindness Patent Information:Patent Issued (AU2007269609)Patent Issued (CN101616692 B)Tech Ventures Reference: IR 1992

Monitoring progression of diabetic retinopathyEarly diagnosis of diabetic retinopathyQuantitative measurement of diabetic retinopathy Fluorescent angiography in non-retinal tissue

None

USA