Cardiff looks to space with AMD instrument

An optometry department has combined with space engineers to develop an instrument to detect the early stages of age-related macular degeneration.

Scientists at Cardiff University’s School of Optometry and Vision Sciences joined forces with engineers at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) to create a retinal densitometer.

Dr Tom Margrain, leading the department’s research alongside Dr Alison Binns, said: ‘One of the earliest signs of AMD is a change in the way the light sensitive pigments in the macula regenerate after exposure to light. Working alongside engineers more used to designing state of the art instruments for ground and space technology, we’ve been able to develop the densitometer, which can assess this change by measuring, over time, the very small changes in the amount of light reflected by the retina after exposure to light.’