Nearly 40 million Americans are at risk for vision loss or blindness due to diabetes and age-related macular degeneration. Often, these diseases are diagnosed and treated much too late, after irreversible vision loss has started to occur. Hao F. Zhang (Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology) and Cheng Sun (Mechanical Engineering), members of Northwestern’s Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, have used developed proprietary technologies that are changing our ability to detect eye disease at its earliest stages. And they have co-founded a company, Opticent Health, to translate this diagnostic technology to society.
Existing optical coherence tomography can only visualize significant changes in anatomy resulting from late-stage disease. In contrast, Opticent Health’s new technology is sensitive to the earliest signs of eye disease, such as retinal ischemia, neuron damage, and retinal degeneration. These functional indicators of eye health help physicians to better manage eye diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and macular degeneration, through prompt early medical engagement and objective therapeutic planning and evaluation. This new technology is also helping leading drug companies to quickly screen candidate compounds for potential ophthalmic drugs. Two leading hospitals are testing white-light optical coherence tomography in their ophthalmology clinics and over 150 patients have been imaged so far.