Marshall makes laser breakthrough in AMD

A clinical breakthrough which could lead to a viable laser treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has been made by Professor John Marshall of King's College London.

Marshall's technique works to clear debris from Bruch's membrane, a contributing component of AMD, with a specially developed laser. The new treatment may be available within two to five years.

Speaking to Optician, Marshall said: 'Bruch's membrane progressively becomes clogged with debris over time, which interferes with the transport mechanisms that supply nutrients to the photo-receptor cells.'

With funding from Guide Dogs for the Blind and Fight for Sight, Marshall and his team have designed a laser that has a very short pulse which lasts only nanoseconds, unlike the millisecond pulses of conventional lasers. He said that the laser also exploited the unevenness of the beam, so that only 10 per cent of the cells the beam falls on have their behaviour changed.