The LITE European Project, in the home strait

Dr. Jordi Monés and Dr. Marc Biarnés have joined the rest of the European partners to analyse the current state of development of the LITE Project (Development of Advanced Laser Imaging Techniques for the anterior and posterior Eye). The meeting to study the progress made in Catalonia and Italy took place at the headquarters of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) in Bologna. The Project involves the design and implementation of a device that combines in a single hybrid system corneal imaging systems with second harmonic generation (SHG) and retinal imaging systems with adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO).

The development of the exclusive AOSLO system, constructed through the collaboration of the Institut de la Màcula and the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), enables the ocular anatomy to be observed with unprecedented precision and detail. The Catalan phase of the LITE Project with this system has studied and classified 22 patients, from which 16 have been selected: 5 with Pigmentary Retinosis, 6 with Stargardt’s disease and a further 5 without eye disorders. AOSLO has helped to build complex, microperimetric retinal images that have allowed the state of the eye fundus to be observed clearly. The images have facilitated a detailed understanding of each patient’s specific lesions. Forthcoming phases of the Project will collect images that will enable deeper knowledge of certain retinal characteristics. The Institut de la Màcula team and the ICFO will continue to conduct tests on the participating patients until November 2016.

The design and implementation of the hybrid system (AOSLO and SHG) developed by the ICFO was recently completed. This equipment has been installed at the Institut de la Màcula, where it has begun to be validated over recent months.

The LITE international project is being developed in collaboration with the Institute of Photonic Sciences, and the Italian entities, Construzione Strumenti Oftalmici (CSO), Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (INO) and Istituto di Fisica Applicata Nello Carrara (IFAC). It is co-financed by the Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Government of Catalonia (Acció) and the European Union through the Seventh Framework Programme of Research and Technological Development, specifically the BiophotonicsPlus project, which aims to promote R&D in the area of photonics.

(The picture shows Dr. Marc Biarnés —first from the left- and Dr. Jordi Monés —fifth from the left-, in Bologna, among the representatives of the partners which take part on the LITE project)

This project is being developed in collaboration with the ICFO – the Institute of Photonic Sciences – together with Construzione Strumenti Oftalmici (CSO), the Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (INO) and the Istituto di Fisica Applicata Nello Carrara (IFAC). It is co-financed by Acció (the Agency for Business Competitiveness) and the European Union through the Seventh Framework Programme of Research and Technological Development, specifically the BiophotonicsPlus project, which aims to promote R&D in the field of photonics.