Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41055014›Full record

ArticleActa ophthalmologica2026

Characterization of retinal pigment epithelium layer in healthy and diseased retinas with high-resolution adaptive optics transscleral flood illumination imaging.

Leila Sara Eppenberger, Safa Mohanna, Sohrab Ferdowsi, Sonja Simon-Zoula, Oliver Pfäffli, Christoph Amstutz, Lucas M Bachmann, Michael A Thiel, Martin K Schmid

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Acta ophthalmologica, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Leila Sara EppenbergerEye Clinic, Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9336-8941
Safa MohannaEye Clinic, Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland.
Sohrab FerdowsiEarlySight SA, Geneva, Switzerland.
Sonja Simon-ZoulaEarlySight SA, Geneva, Switzerland.
Oliver PfäffliEye Clinic, Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland.
Christoph AmstutzEye Clinic, Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland.
Lucas M BachmannEpidemiology, Biostatistics & Prevention Institute (EBPI), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Michael A ThielEye Clinic, Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland.
Martin K SchmidEye Clinic, Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is critical in the pathophysiology of retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration. Adaptive optics transscleral flood illumination (AO-TFI) offers rapid, detailed morphometric characterization of the RPE layer. This study evaluated AO-TFI's efficacy and feasibility to detect clinically relevant morphological characteristics in a clinical setting.

methodsA total of 230 participants, categorized by their central retinal health, underwent comprehensive examination including SD-OCT, fundus imaging and AO-TFI using the Cellularis® prototype 2.0. Image quality control and RPE layer quantification were performed with an AO-TFI-specific automated segmentation algorithm. Density and area of hyper- and hyporeflective regions in the RPE layer plane, and, if detectable, RPE cell density, were quantified. We hypothesized that the RPE cell density would be lower in diseased retinas than in healthy retinas. Imaging results of healthy participants were statistically compared to those of diseased eyes. Additionally, generalized linear and logistic regression mixed-effect models identified associations between ocular characteristics and imaging parameters.

resultsAfter quality evaluation, high-quality images from 200 subjects (87%) were selected and segmented. The number of hyperreflective regions and their mean surface area were significantly higher in diseased than in healthy eyes (68 ± 40/mm

conclusionAO-TFI detected differences between healthy and diseased eyes, indicating its potential as a promising clinical modality providing quantitative and qualitative insights into RPE layer dynamics.

Indexed as

Fluorescein AngiographyRetinal DiseasesRetinal Pigment EpitheliumTomography, Optical CoherenceAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCell CountFemaleFundus OculiHumansMaleMiddle AgedScleraadaptive optics transscleral flood illumination imagingage‐related macular degenerationin vivo quantitative imagingretinal pigment epithelium imaging

Identifiers

PMID41055014
PMCPMC13058683

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.