# Ultra-wide field optical coherence tomography based angiography for imaging diabetic retinopathy

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2021 · $558,926

## Abstract

Project Summary
The increasing incidence of diabetes in the US population and the inertial wave of aging in Americans will
ensure that diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains one of the principal threats to the sight of adult patients and a
significant management challenge for the clinical community. It is now clear that the peripheral retina is the site
of pathology in many vision-threatening eye diseases, including DR. Evaluation of the retinal periphery,
therefore, is important for screening, diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of disease manifestations.
Historically, imaging of the peripheral retina has been limited and difficult to obtain; recent advancements in
wide-field photography, however, have dramatically improved the ability to image the anterior retina. To reveal
vascular involvements in the peripheral retina, invasive imaging techniques, e.g., fluorescein angiography (FA)
and indo-cyanine green angiography (ICGA), are currently used. Both techniques have traditionally been
utilized to make diagnoses and treatment decisions, but they only provide two-dimensional (2D) images and
require intravascular injections that risk complications. It would be highly advantageous to be capable of 3D
visualization of peripheral vascular perfusion with capillary-level resolution, both to reveal the detailed
functional architecture of the microvascular network and to permit quantification of the perfusion status of the
retina. This information would be fundamental to better understanding of retinal diseases that has peripheral
vascular involvements, e.g. DR, resulting in more informed and targeted treatment decisions.
 In this project, we propose to develop a clinically applicable 3D ultra widefield optical microangiography
(UW-OMAG) system capable of imaging the neural retina at ~180-degree field of view. We envision that this
novel, non-invasive, and label-free optical imaging method will quantify the morphology of blood vessels and
permit assessment of their spatial relations in 3D, not only in the central macular region, but in the peripheral
retina. Concurrently, total retinal blood flow (RBF) and vascular volumes of the retina can be quantitatively
assessed. To achieve this goal, we will first design and construct a novel, UW-OMAG system based on swept
source optical coherence tomography capable of 400 kHz A-scan rate. The focus will be on solving challenges
associated with creating an UW-OMAG retinal imaging system that is capable of providing an imaging range
of >12mm with minimal system sensitivity roll-off characteristics so that it is able to adapt and image the curved
posterior segment, and achieving an unprecedented imaging field of view ~180o. We will then utilize this
clinically applicable prototype to validate its accuracy for visualizing the peripheral retinal microvasculature,
compared to ultra widefield fundus photography and FA. Finally, we will perform UW-OMAG pilot imaging
studies in 160 subjects of normal and DR subjects to demonst...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10176506
- **Project number:** 5R01EY028753-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Ruikang Wang
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $558,926
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10176506

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10176506, Ultra-wide field optical coherence tomography based angiography for imaging diabetic retinopathy (5R01EY028753-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10176506. Licensed CC0.

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