Advanced CLAD PERG system with minimal patient preparation for clinical settings

Jorvec Corporation, Miami FL

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract: Glaucoma is one of a number of optic nerve diseases which lead to retinal ganglion cells (RGC) degeneration, ultimately manifesting in a functional loss of vision if left untreated. There exist a number of therapeutic approaches to treat these conditions, but there are currently no clinical methods to detect the onset of RGC dysfunction. The Pattern Electroretinogram (PERG) is the only established tool to monitor RGC health in vivo in humans and experimental models of optic nerve diseases. The monitoring of PERG responses can potentially provide earlier detection of degenerative retinal disorders such as glaucoma, allowing for treatment paradigms to be initiated before irreversible functional vision loss has occurred. A critical barrier to the widespread adoption of PERG for research and clinical use involves suboptimal characteristics of conventionally available displays for eliciting visual responses. The goal of the proposed project is to produce commercially available device for use in both vision research and clinical applications, which is not only more compact, faster, cheaper and more user?friendly, but also provides a higher quality of information through innovative display technology and processing techniques. During Phase I, the following specific aims will be pursued: 1) Develop a next generation PERG stimulator for human subjects. Previously, our group developed a PERG device for animal studies. The effort here will be miniaturizing and refining that technology to provide stimuli relevant for human subjects and achieve a form factor that will be suitable for clinical settings. 2) Investigate options for dry electrodes in PERG. Another limiting factor for clinical adoption of PERG and other electrophysiological techniques is time consuming patient preparation. A dry electrode solution can streamline patient prep and increase ease of use and throughput. 3) CLAD in Glaucoma Subjects. CLAD is an analysis technique developed by our group which has the potential to increase the sensitivity of PERG for detecting RGC dysfunction. Pilot data collected and presented in this submission strongly supports this increase in clinical utility.