Operating in the Dark: A Night Vision System for Surgery in Retinas Susceptible to Light Damage

摘要

A standard Zeiss OPMI 6 operating microscope was modified with a bandpass infrared filter in the light path, and infrared image intensifiers for each of the two eye pieces. The aim of the study was to evaluate this system for subretinal injections in normal control and rhodopsin mutant dogs. These dogs are a model for human autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP), and their retinas degenerate faster when exposed to modest light levels as used in routine clinical examinations. We showed that the mutant retinas developed severe generalized degeneration when exposed to the standard operating microscope light, but not the infrared light. The modified operating microscope provided excellent view of the ocular fundus under infrared illumination, and allowed us to perform subretinal injections in the rhodopsin mutant dog retinas without any subsequent light-induced retinal degeneration.