VisionQuest Biomedical Inc — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: Summary Teleretinal programs have expanded in recent years, primarily to screen for diabet

Description

Summary Teleretinal programs have expanded in recent years, primarily to screen for diabetic retinopathy. Accurate and consistent assessment of the retinal vasculature, which often sustains damage as a result of cardiovascular disease, would advance teleretinal screening in terms of robustness and cost. Unfortunately, assessing changes to the retinal vasculature and quantifying abnormalities in retinal images has proven more difficult. Semi-automatic methods are reported to reduce grader variability, but they are time-consuming, requiring extensive reader interaction, thus limiting the overall effectiveness of a teleretinal screening program. VisionQuest Biomedical and its collaborator, the Retina Institute of South Texas (RIST), will demonstrate a softwaretool for comprehensive assessment of retinal vasculature (CARV) to aid readers in the quantitative characterization of vascular abnormalities and identification of those images with features indicative of potential sight-threatening or life-threatening co