Zhou Sheng, PhD | Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Science & Peking Union Medical College
Competition Sponsor: Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
Award year: 2021
Cataract is a common disease among middle-aged and elderly people, leading to most cases of vision impairment and blindness today. However, no particular device is clinically available for cataract diagnosis. In clinical practice, it’s heavily reliant on the doctor’s experience to obtain relatively accurate and objective lens imaging data and biometric parameters. Due to the diversity of cataract lenses, uneven hardness distribution, and individual differences, it is prone to make diagnostic errors, requiring even higher operation skills from surgeons.
Based on our long-term laboratory research and development of high-frequency ultrasound diagnosis and treatment technology, this project proposes real-time panoramic lens imaging to observe the shape and pathological characteristics of lens and its surrounding tissues using very-high-frequency (VHF) ultrasound. With real-time imaging data, a doctor can automatically measure anterior segment parameters and evaluate whether the anterior chamber angle is open or closed. According to the diagnosis results, the doctor can adjust the energy, frequency, negative pressure, incision mode and other parameters of intra-operative emulsification before a surgery is started, to optimize the treatment plan. Upon completion, this project will build a VHF panoramic imaging and automatic measurement software and hardware platform that meets the medical standards for safety and performance, improves imaging quality, mitigates surgery risks and reduces the incidence of complications. This project demonstrates great research significance and clinical application prospects.