Fundus photography in red-free light (rhodopsin photography)

Registration of stereo and temporal images of the retina

The registration of retinal images is required to facilitate the study of the optic nerve head and the retina. The method we propose combines the use of mutual information as the similarity measure and simulated annealing as the search technique. It is robust toward large transformations between the images and significant changes in light intensity. By using a pyramid sampling approach combined with simulated reannealing we find that registration can be achieved to predetermined precision, subject to choice of interpolation and the constraint of time. The algorithm was tested on 49 pairs of stereo images and 48 pairs of temporal images with success.

Clinical applications of fundus reflection densitometry

Fundus reflection densitometry or retinal densitometry is a non-invasive technique to examine the visual photopigment kinetics in living eyes. The technique is based on the comparison of the reflected light from the fundus in a fully light adapted eye (when all visual photopigment has been bleached) with the reflected light following complete dark adaptation (when the retina contains its maximum amount of visual photopigment). The technique provides a measure of the density of visual photopigment, its time constant of regeneration, its distribution and spectral characteristics if measured at a series of wavelengths. Fundus reflection densitometry in the human eye was introduced 40 years ago. Presently, it is the only available technique from which direct and objective insight can be obtained into visual photopigment. This knowledge is particularly relevant in eyes where abnormalities of photoreceptor function are suspected. This paper summarizes the current knowledge of fundus reflection densitometry in the diseased and in the aging human retina, gathered over the last 30 years. Considerable improvements of the instrument for clinical purposes have been obtained, and are also discussed.

Visual pigments in the human macula assessed by imaging fundus reflectometry

Multispectral imaging fundus reflectometry and multiple linear regression fitting routines were used to simultaneously assess the spatial distributions of cone visual pigment and rhodopsin in the human macula. As expected from anatomic studies, the cone visual pigment distribution showed a peak in the central fovea and was elliptical, with the broader axis along the horizontal meridian. The rhodopsin distribution showed a minimum in the fovea and the rhodopsin density increased with eccentricity. Both visual pigment distributions showed striking variability among individuals. These data provide visual pigment distributions in the relatively unexplored parafoveal region.