Macular Pigment Reflectometry: Developing Clinical Protocols, Comparison with Heterochromatic Flicker Photometry and

Pinakin Gunvant Davey1, Richard B Rosen2, Dennis L Gierhart3

  • 1College of Optometry, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USA.

Nutrients
|August 27, 2021
PubMed

Insights

The Macular Pigment Reflectometry (MPR) device accurately measures macular pigment optical density (MPOD), lutein, and zeaxanthin. MPR measurements show good agreement with the MPS II device, offering new clinical insights.

Area of Science:

  • Ophthalmology
  • Optical Physics
  • Nutritional Science

Background:

  • Macular pigment optical density (MPOD) is crucial for retinal health.
  • Accurate measurement of MPOD, lutein, and zeaxanthin is essential for clinical assessment.
  • Existing methods like heterochromatic flicker photometry (MPS II) have limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and validate protocols for Macular Pigment Reflectometry (MPR).
  • To assess the agreement between MPR and MPS II for MPOD measurements.
  • To determine lutein and zeaxanthin optical density in the central macula using MPR.

Main Methods:

  • Measurements were taken using MPR and heterochromatic flicker photometry (MPS II).
  • MPR protocols involved varying measurement durations and data parsing intervals (e.g., 10-30s).
  • Pupillary dilation effects on repeatability were evaluated.

Main Results:

  • MPR-MPOD measurements demonstrated high correlation and agreement with MPS II-MPOD.
  • The 10-30s data interval yielded optimal MPOD, lutein, and zeaxanthin values with 8-12% repeatability.
  • Pupillary dilation improved repeatability for lutein and zeaxanthin optical density.

Conclusions:

  • MPR is a reliable device for measuring MPOD, showing good agreement with MPS II.
  • MPR provides lutein and zeaxanthin optical density, offering novel clinical data.
  • The 10-30s interval is recommended for MPR data analysis for optimal results.