Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 20, 2026
Measurement of Carotenoids in Perifovea using the Macular Pigment Reflectometer
Published on: January 29, 2020
[Determination of the concentration distribution of macular pigment from reflection and fluorescence images]
M Hammer1, D Schweitzer, L Leistritz
1Augenklinik, FSU, Jena. martin.hammer@med.uni-jena.de
Objective:
The macular pigment xanthophyll protects the macula in two ways: firstly, it absorbs hazardous blue light and secondly, it acts as a radical scavenger. A low concentration of xanthophyll may be regarded as a risk factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Therefore, we investigated a simple method to determine the xanthophyll concentration at the fundus which is suitable for patient screening.
Method:
The local distribution of xanthophyll density was determined from monochromatic blue reflection images and autofluorescence images of the fundus in 18 healthy volunteers (mean age: 23.9 years). The significance of the parameters maximal, global, and mean concentration were compared.
Results:
The maximal optical density of xanthophyll determined from reflection images was found to be 0.29+/-0.08 (mean for all test persons) which is in good agreement with literature data. The total xanthophyll concentration which is proportional to the maximal density, appeared to be appropriate to describe a person's overall xanthophyll status. Because of the low intensity of autofluorescence images, these are less useful for the determination of the xanthophyll concentration.
Conclusions:
Because of it's simplicity, the determination of xanthophyll concentration as described here can be performed by every ophthalmologist using a fundus camera and is, therefore, suitable as a screening method.
