September 28, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB’s Glaucoma service in the Department of Ophthalmology has added two state-of-the-art imaging machines that will help with quicker diagnosis of glaucoma in patients. The machines also will help physicians monitor the progression of the disease over time.

The Cirrus HD-OCT, a high definition spectral domain optical coherence tomography machine manufactured by Zeiss Meditec, provides high resolution images of the back of the eye.

“This is a next-generation retinal and optic nerve imaging machine,” said Christopher Girkin, M.D., professor of ophthalmology and director of the glaucoma service. “Instead of the standard one slice of data, this machine gives us a whole cube…a three-dimensional reconstruction of the tissues at the back of the eye that are involved in the formation of the visual images we see and the transmission of these images to the brain.”

The second machine is a spectral domain OCT machine manufactured by Optovue, the RTVue-100. It has similar resolution capabilities but has software that can map layers of the retina. The machines will be used in clinical and research applications.

“These machines are tools that will eventually allow for better, quicker diagnosis of glaucoma and are critical to advances in our understanding of how glaucoma develops,” Girkin said. “They will provide better follow up and give us a much better picture of how quickly the disease is progressing in the eye.”

Each machine costs about $100,000, but the UAB Glaucoma Service has received them at no cost. The manufacturers provide them to major medical centers such as UAB to provide baseline data for high risk patients and to establish parameters for general use.

Girkin says the machines will be valuable in treating and studying glaucoma, macular degeneration and retinal diseases.