OCT scans use eye as 'window into the brain' for MSprognosis
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 9:50 pm
The connection is common. Eyes are like windows — they can reveal as much about a person as a bay casement can about the room it illuminates. And according to two studies recently released by Johns Hopkins University, that predominantly spiritual image may, now more firmly than ever, actually have a basis in scientific fact.
Johns Hopkins researchers found that an inexpensive eye scan system has the ability to assess brain inflammation accurately in people with devastating autoimmune disorders, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The tool, known as optical coherence tomography (OCT), surveys the nerves deep in the rear of the eye, evaluating previously immeasurable layers of light-sensitive retinal tissue. What’s more, an OCT costs one-tenth of an MRI; it also doesn’t apply harmful radiation to the patient being tested.
"Eye scans are not that expensive, are really safe, and are widely used in ophthalmology, and now that we have evidence of their predictive value in MS, we think they are ready for prime time,” Peter A. Calabresi, MD, a professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and leader of the studies, said in a news release. “We should be using this new quantitative tool to learn more about disease progression, including nerve damage and brain atrophy."... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/3534