Abstract
Purpose :
Majority of retinal diseases are known to cause progressive dysfunction, degradation or death of photoreceptors leading to vision loss. Though electroretinogram (ERG) is the most quantitative and objective way of measuring retinal function, it is not commonly used during patient office visits due to long setup times, and difficulty in testing/setup environment. Here, we report the development of wearable multi-color light stimulation ERG-platform for monitoring of different cone and rod functions.
Methods :
The wearable goggle ERG system (NS-Sanvi) is comprised of two independently isolated eyepieces with the ability to light/dark adapt irrespective of the room lighting. The stimulation light domes were embedded into each of the wearable goggles’ individual eyepieces. The software interface enabled selection of stimulation wavelengths for S, M and L cones as well as rod photoreceptors. Light flashes were elicited by pre-selected wavelengths (Blue: 465 nm; Green: 522 nm; Red: 625 nm; and White: Broadband 6000K). Dark-adapted recording was conducted in standard lighting condition without turning off the room light. Full-field ERG from multiple strobe light flashes were averaged and filtered to obtain the final waveform.
Results :
ERG recordings using the wearable goggle ERG system enabled independent recordings from each eye simultaneously. Using ISCEV protocols, ERG responses from dark-adapted rod, combined rod-cone response, light-adapted cone responses and flicker responses were recorded. The noise from motion artefact was minimized due to snug-fit of the individual eyepieces. For the photopic ERG, the ISCEV standard flash luminance was sufficient to elicit response from eyes without pharmacological dilation, attributed to the smaller dome size allowing focusing of light through the non-dilated pupil.
Conclusions :
Our results show that the wearable goggle ERG system allows functional evaluation of cones and rods. Control of light adaptation and stimulation parameters in the ERG such as luminance, wavelength, and stimulation frequency in the wearable goggle allows easy-use for point-of-care diagnosis of ocular health.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.