Scanning laser reflectometry of retinal and subretinal tissues.

Measurements of the human ocular fundus that make use of the light returning through the pupil are called reflectometry. Early reflectometry studies were limited by poor light return from the retina and strong reflections from the anterior surface of the eye. Artifacts produced misleading results in diseases like age-related macular degeneration. Novel laser sources, scanning, confocal optics, and digital imaging provide improved sampling of the signal from the tissues of interest: photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelial cells. A wider range of wavelengths is now compared, including the near infrared. Reflectometry now provides functional mapping, even in severe pathology.