Shaping Light Blog

A question that is asked from time to time around here is, “What is your relationship with Boston University? “  People want to know:  Are you a spin-off from their incubation program?  Do you receive financial support from BU?  Do they own your technology?  Well, the short answer is yes and no.   Here’s a summary:

We are an independent company which receives no financial support from BU and has a close relationship with the University for a few reasons:

1)      We license some of BU’s MEMS technology manufacturing process from the University so that we may profit from it and contribute back to the University

2)      Our founders are a BU professor (Tom Bifano, Director of the Photonics Center) and a BU grad (Paul Bierden, CEO, BSME ’92, MSME ’94).

3)      We collaborate on focused development which includes both fundamental research and advanced development.

We are connected due to our mutual interest in photonics technology and expertise in the field.  It has been a beneficial relationship to both parties and we hope to continue the relationship as we move forward with new projects and new technological improvements.

A major area of research using adaptive optics is retinal imaging. And, with that interest, BMC has been fortunate to participate in the advancement the field by improving imaging techniques through the use of deformable mirrors. We have been directly or indirectly involved in many types of research.

In this post we will focus on our recent project in collaboration with Dr. Steve Burns at the University of Indiana to build an AO SLO system for use in a clinical setting. This project began as a National Eye Institute grant and has developed into a company endeavor to include our technology in a commercially available instrument that can be used for the early detection of such eye diseases as Diabetic Retinopathy and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Dr. Burns is putting the final touches on a device for use by clinicians. Pictures of the demonstrated ability to image retinal vasculature through the use of AO and the latest version of the instrument (with graduate student Zhangyi Zhong for size reference) are shown below. Also check out our Facebook page to view a video of the instrument in action:  http://bit.ly/9w2y9x

Individual Nerve Fibers can be seen Crossing over a Superficial Blood Vessel:

Vessels down to the smallest Capillaries can be imaged:

The AOSLO:

We are currently accepting applications for the use of this device for research on the early detection of eye diseases and enabling treatment to slow down or prevent the spread of disease. Please contact us if you are interested in using this instrument as we are anxious to enable new research that can help to stop the progression of debilitating eye diseases.
We will be sure to keep the imaging community updated on the progress of this research and offer glimpses into what is being discovered using the instrument and what it means for eye care in the future.