Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), What is it?
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness, affecting more than 10 million Americans, more than glaucoma and cataracts combined. This ocular condition is caused by the deterioration of the central portion of the retina, known as the macula. The Macula is responsible for focusing central vision, the ability to read, drive a car, recognize faces or colors, and seeing fine details. This is a common ocular condition for patients over the age of 50. New eye care technology helps to diagnose AMD in minutes.
Eye Care Technology
Thanks to technological evolutions in the eye care industry, eye care practitioners can now use high-tech devices to diagnose early signs of age-related macular degeneration. At Eyepic, we believe that investing in the latest technology directly benefits our patients’ health. Normally during our comprehensive medical eye exams, which include an OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography), we can diagnose sight-threatening eye conditions such as AMD in their early stages long before visible symptoms appear. Now in the addition of the Maculogix AdaptDx Pro, we can diagnose AMD three years before a doctor can see it in the normal eye. This is because the Maculogix AdaptDx Pro accurately measures dark adaptation speed.
Dark Adaptation
Dark adaptation is the automatic adjustment of the eye from bright light to low light, involving reflex dilation of the pupil. Dark adaptation speed is a key metric to diagnosing early stages of AMD because the healthy eye adapts relatively quickly from bright light to darkness while the process can be impeded in the eyes with AMD.
At the early stages of AMD, rods (photoreceptor cells in the retina that enable good vision in low light) function starts to deteriorate before cones (photoreceptor cells in the retina that enable good vision in bright light) function. As AMD evolves, cones start to deteriorate, which leads to a decrease in visual acuity. Rods are affected earlier and more critically throughout the disease.
The eye should be able to adapt from bright light to darkness within 6.5 minutes. Anything above this represents a breakdown in the rods. Simply put, the quicker the dark adaptation speed is, the better it is.
Maculogix
We invested in Maculogix’ AdaptDX Pro to test patients for AMD. With 20 years of clinical research behind it, this non-invasive device is one of the most accurate tools to detect early signs of AMD three years prior to any visible signs on the retina. It automatically aligns with the eye to capture an accurate measurement of dark adaptation speed. Routine tests with Maculogix’ AdaptDX take about 5 min (compared to around an hour or more with other devices).
Our Patients First
Our patients’ health is our priority. Therefore, investing in advanced eye care technology is an obvious choice for us. It allows us to diagnose almost any eye condition in its early stages, react faster, and formulate the appropriate treatment plans in order to preserve our patients’ vision quality.
Schedule your AMD test today!