[Potential of Adaptive Optics for the Diagnostic Evaluation of Hereditary Retinal Diseases]

The use of adaptive optics in ophthalmoscopy is a breakthrough technological achievement. With AO ophthalmoscopes, the microscopic retinal structure can be visualised non-invasively and on a cellular level, allowing for cellular scale imaging of the retinal nerve fibre layer, the smallest retinal capillaries, rod and cone photoreceptors, and the retinal pigment epithelium mosaic in the living subject. Regarding the diagnostic evaluation of retinal diseases, the current research focuses on monogenetic retinal diseases, which - when better understood - may allow for conclusions to be drawn about other multifactorial diseases and their underlying mechanisms (model disease). For disease monitoring and current and future pharmacological intervention (e.g. gene therapy), they will help to better establish novel and reliable clinical endpoints. New AO imaging devices have just become commercially available, and the number of retinal pathologies visualised with AO is increasing. Recently, an AO-based microstimulation technique has been introduced, which offers the possibility to directly correlate retinal structure with visual function on a cellular level.