Medical retinal imaging company Optos found that monitoring the peripheral section of the retina could play a vital role in the detection of Alzheimer's Dementia (AD).

The investigation was part of 20 positive clinical studies announced at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, 1–4 May.

A team led by Dr Tunde Peto et al., Moorfield's Eye Hospital, London, captured optomap retinal images of 102 patients (56 AD sufferers and 46 age-matched controls) to determine whether a simple eye exam could be used for screening purposes. Optos ultra wide field images were used during the screen test to identify drusen within the retina.

The findings demonstrated a high correlation between AD and peripheral, small, hard drusen formation. This suggests that examining the peripheral section of the retina could be an essential part of detecting and examining the progression of AD.