# Advancing visible light optical coherence tomography in glaucoma detection

> **NIH NIH R01** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $454,996

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Glaucoma is a chronic, progressive, incurable disease that affects over 2 million individuals in the United States
alone and over 60 million worldwide. Sensitive detection of early glaucoma damage is not only essential for
vision preservation, but also can facilitate new neuroprotective therapy developments. In this proposal, we focus
on two novel imaging markers enabled by visible light optical coherence tomography (VIS-OCT), namely the
reflectance spectral marker from retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and macular oxygen consumption. We showed
in our recent cross-sectional clinical study that peripapillary RNFL reflectance spectral marker and arteriovenous
oxygen saturation difference in the macular region better separated early stage of glaucoma suspect/pre-
perimetric glaucoma eyes from normal ones than circumpapillary RNFL and macular ganglion cell complex (GCC)
thickness. These promising results lead to three specific goals in the project. First, we will develop a second-
generation dual channel VIS-OCT device to improve the resolution, total imaging range, and image quality to
achieve near shot-noise limit performance. Second, we propose to characterize the macular oxygen
consumption by combining blood oxygen saturation and flow and correlated with glaucoma severity. Macular
region contains >30% of total RGCs in retina and is involved in early events in glaucoma. The macular visual
damage impacts the quality of life the most since it is at the center of our vision. For the first time, we will provide
quantitative assessment of macular oxygen consumption in a spectrum of glaucoma severity and shed light in
the pathological role of vascular function in the early-stage glaucoma. Finally, we propose a prospective study
to correlate VIS-OCT imaging markers, including RNFL reflectance spectral markers and macular oxygen
markers, with the glaucoma worsening. We will evaluate whether VIS-OCT markers can detect the early
damages proceeding to vision functional loss at a later point. IMPACT ON PUBLIC HEALTH: The successful
completion of this program will rigorously evaluate the clinical performances of new VIS-OCT markers for early
glaucoma detection, which is highly impactful in clinical care and blindness prevention.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10817949
- **Project number:** 5R01EY034607-02
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ji Yi
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $454,996
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-04-01 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10817949

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10817949, Advancing visible light optical coherence tomography in glaucoma detection (5R01EY034607-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10817949. Licensed CC0.

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