A new study from the Indiana University School of Optometry has found separating out the red "color channel" in color fundus images can help improve the ability to detect diabetic macular edema, especially in racial/ethnic minority patients.
For the study, researchers reportedly analyzed standard color fundus images from over 2,000 adult diabetic patients, of which 90 percent identified themselves as racial/ethnic minorities other than non-Hispanic white. Researchers found of the 13 patients found to have cystoid macular edema, it was easier to detect using red-channel images, which reportedly showed 100 percent agreement with the standard full-color photographs. By comparison, five of 13 cases of cystoid macular edema were reportedly not visible by examining the green-channel images. And all five patients with "missed" cystoid macular edema had a dark-colored fundus.
Researchers believe their study suggests the information provided by red-channel color separation of retinal images could offer a "clear-cut advantage" in under-served groups, which may have a high proportion of dark-eyed patients and higher rates of diabetic eye disease.
The study was recently published in Optometry and Vision Science, the journal of the American Academy of Optometry.
Click here to read the full press release.
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Source: Wolters Kluwer Health