Clinical imaging of macular pigment optical density and spatial distribution

Abstract

Clinical research continues to provide an increasing number of studies that reveal an association between macular pigment optical density (MPOD) and both visual function and ocular health. As a result, there is a growing need for repeatable, accurate measures of MPOD that can describe peak optical density as well as spatial distribution. Measurement of MPOD in a research setting has an established history encompassing a number of both objective and subjective techniques. Transition of these techniques to a clinical setting has produced an array of commercial devices using three primary methods: heterochromatic flicker photometry, fundus autofluorescence and fundus reflectometry. The inherent differences among the techniques create difficulty in making direct comparisons between MPOD measurement devices. Understanding the limitations of each technique is critical in the clinical interpretation of MPOD results. Here, both the objective and subjective methods of MPOD measurement are reviewed with emphasis on the commercially available devices used in clinical settings.

Effects of lutein supplementation in age-related macular degeneration

“…Another source of variability among studies in the literature is the different ways to determine MPOD. There are many different methods to measure MPOD, including fundus reflectance, auto-reflectance and psychophysical methods [60, 61]. Most studies in our meta-analysis used a heterochromatic flicker photometer, which is commonly used but not always reproducible in clinical [62].…”

Macular pigment is associated with glare-affected visual function and central visual field loss in glaucoma

“…This may have resulted in a high exclusion rate in the MPOD data that were available for statistical analysis. In the future, the use of fundus autofluorescence to measure MPOD will help eliminate this problem 23. Another concern regarding the use of HFP in measuring MPOD in the glaucomatous eye is the ability of the subject to fixate and report the absence of flicker in the stimulus targets.…”

Is macular pigment optical density really involved in fixation preference?

“…In this study, we did not evaluate the spatial distribution of the macular pigments although one central MPOD value is an incomplete identification of the MPOD. 8 To the best of our knowledge, this is the first clinical study which evaluates MPOD in strabismic patients with respect to fixation preference and compares with those of healthy children. In conclusion, our results suggest that MPOD is significantly high in preferred eyes of the patients with strabismus and even higher than in non-preferred eyes and healthy eyes.…”

“…7,8 It is mainly based on spectral absorption characteristics and location of the macular pigments. 8 HFP is a subjective method and has several advantages and disadvantages. It offers the least technical efforts and is minimally invasive without the need to pupil dilatation.…”