A photo of the fundus can help you know eye diseases early

Author: Cheng Shiyu Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Reviewer: Yang Zhikun, deputy chief physician, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

1. What is fundus photography?

If the eyeball is a camera, then the fundus is the film of this camera. Fundus photography is to take a picture of the "film of the eye" and observe the basic conditions of many important structures such as the retina, optic nerve, macula, retinal blood vessels, etc. This examination can help doctors find clues of eye diseases and also assess the health of the whole body. Fundus photography has the advantages of being non-invasive, fast, simple to operate, and the results are available immediately.

Depending on the shooting range, fundus photography can be divided into ordinary fundus color photography and ultra-wide-angle laser scanning fundus photography (SLO).

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2. Who needs to take fundus photos?

Doctors recommend: Everyone can take fundus photos regularly to monitor fundus health! The following groups of people should pay more attention to this.

1. Severe myopia

High myopia mainly refers to a refractive error of ≥600°. The probability of fundus lesions in this group of people can reach 8.5% to 24.3%. SLO can capture the retina at the extreme periphery, making retinal degeneration areas, retinal holes, retinal detachment and other conditions visible!

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2. Elderly people

The macula is the most important normal structure on the retina and the most sensitive area of ​​human vision. As we age, when lesions occur in the macula, it will cause symptoms such as dark areas in the center, distorted vision, and blurred vision. Fundus photography can show whether there are bleeding, exudation, vitreous warts, etc. in the macula, helping doctors to detect macular diseases early and determine the severity of the disease.

3. Family history of glaucoma

The optic nerve acts as a "wire" in the eye, transmitting images seen by the eye to the brain. When there is a problem with the optic nerve, symptoms such as visual field loss or decreased vision may occur. The most common optic nerve disease is glaucoma. Fundus photography can directly observe the optic nerve, and early detection of optic nerve changes in glaucoma prompts glaucoma screening.

4. Diabetes

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in working-age adults. Patients with early diabetic retinopathy have no obvious symptoms, but microaneurysms, hard exudates, cotton wool spots, small hemorrhages and other manifestations may already appear in the fundus, requiring timely intervention and treatment to avoid the risk of blindness.

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3. What are the new technologies for eye disease screening?

1. Optical coherence tomography vascular imaging technology

In addition to fundus photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT) can now be used to examine the fundus, which can obtain more accurate retinal tomographic images than fundus photography and diagnose diseases earlier, especially various types of macular lesions, such as macular holes, preretinal membranes, macular edema, etc. OCT can make all kinds of eye lesions nowhere to hide.

In recent years, OCT vascular imaging technology has become increasingly mature. Through a single scan, the fine structure of blood vessels can be observed, which is almost comparable to traditional angiography. At the same time, it avoids the risks of venous puncture and contrast agent allergy, and is favored by doctors and patients.

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2. Artificial intelligence-assisted screening of fundus diseases

With the development of science and technology, artificial intelligence (AI) technology has played an increasingly important role in the diagnosis and treatment of fundus diseases. AI can not only interpret and screen for a variety of diseases such as pathological myopia, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and arteriosclerosis, but also help doctors diagnose and treat more accurately. Peking Union Medical College Hospital is an early explorer of AI in ophthalmology and has achieved many important results. In addition to conducting the world's first clinical trial using AI to assist in the diagnosis of multiple eye diseases using fundus images, in recent years it has also been committed to the prediction and identification of systemic diseases using AI, as well as its application in telemedicine.

In summary, a variety of examination methods can be used for the screening and diagnosis of eye diseases. By paying attention to fundus health early, not only can eye diseases be detected as early as possible, but the risk of systemic diseases can also be identified in time, thereby achieving early diagnosis and early treatment. For the sake of everyone's eye health, it is very necessary to perform fundus screening regularly and take a photo of the fundus!