Quantum Imaging Diagnostic Tool for the Early Detection of Macular Degeneration

Nov 2022

Macular degeneration causes a loss of central vision and has a profound effect on quality of life. Current treatments slow disease progression but cannot recover lost vision and macular degeneration is often diagnosed after irreparable vision loss has occurred.

There is an urgent need for technologies that enable early detection of macular degeneration so that treatment can begin before vision is lost. The Centre for Eye and Vision Research (CEVR) has a mission to generate technologies to prevent vision loss. The CEVR research team is collaborating with the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo to develop a diagnostic tool that utilizes novel quantum imaging technologies to detect early-stage macular degeneration.

The new device measures the interaction of structured light beams with the eye. A person with healthy eyes can detect structured light in the form of a pattern in their field of vision. This phenomenon is due to the structural properties of the macula, the part of the retina that supports central vision, which is compromised in individuals with macular degeneration. The Structured Light Imaging Microscope (SLIM) uses structured polarization states of light, developed in quantum information science, to measure the macula's health.

CEVR invites subjects with normal vision to participate in this research study. Participants will view structured light patterns. These patterns, reminiscent of star shapes, are rotated clockwise or counterclockwise and participants report the motion direction that they see.

The results of this research will build upon CEVR's previous findings that the general population can discriminate between different patterns generated by Structured Light Imaging Microscopy (SLIM). 

This research program is ongoing and will recruit people with normal vision and people with different eye conditions to participate. The new diagnostics tool is expected to be launched in 2024.