This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

New technique shows promise for detecting macular degeneration

Breaking news

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

SALT LAKE CITY — Raman spectroscopy may be effective as a screening tool for macular degeneration, according to research from the University of Utah.

Researchers here used Raman spectroscopy to image the spatial distribution of macular carotenoid pigment in eye bank eyes. Using resonant excitation of the pigment molecules with narrow-bandwidth blue light from a mercury arc lamp, researchers recorded Raman images originating from the carbon-carbon double bond stretch vibrations of the molecules.

The study authors said their research demonstrates the potential for using the method in large-scale population studies to provide insight in individual variations in the spatial profiles of macular carotenoid pigment distributions as well as the total amounts of macular carotenoid pigment.

The study will be published in the June issue of Journal of the Optic Society of America A.