Retinal Hyperspectral Imaging in Neurodegenerative Diseases

The retina is the inner part of the eye that is developmentally linked to the brain. Taking specialised pictures of the retina of the eye can reveal information about a person's eye health as well as their general health. Several research studies have shown that there are subtle differences in the retinas of people with dementia or neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, compared to those without the disease. For example, in Alzheimer's disease, a protein amyloid beta builds up in the brain and in the retina of the eye. The build up of amyloid beta corresponds with the stage of dementia. Currently, measuring amyloid beta requires an expensive test, known as a PET scan, that can be difficult to access and involves exposure to radiation, which means that it cannot be repeated often. The other way to measure amyloid beta levels involves a collection of fluid (cerebrospinal fluid) from around the spinal cord. The development of a cheap, quick and easy test to detect the level of amyloid deposits would be a major advance for not only people with Alzheimer's disease but other forms of dementia and neurodegenerative diseases. It may allow easier monitoring of the progression of the disease and, importantly, monitoring of the effectiveness of new treatments to slow progression of the disease. Different changes occur in the retina in other types of brain diseases, suggesting that eye scans may help to detect a range of different neurodegenerative diseases. Over the past few years, our research group has been studying a new type of camera, known as a hyperspectral camera, that can take images of the retina using many different colours (wavelengths) of light. It provides us with very detailed information about the structure of the retina that we cannot get using standard cameras. The eye scan is safe, quick and easy. We have shown that the eye scan can provide valuable information about people's eye and brain health. We now aim to test whether the scans can be used to find changes in the retina that are linked with dementia or neurodegenerative diseases. If changes are found, this could be used in future to help detect dementia or neurodegenerative diseases in the early stages or to monitor disease progression.