Published 2026 | Version 1
Poster Open

Abridged Retinal Fluorescence Lifetimes in Glaucoma

Authors/Creators

  • 1. ROR icon University of California San Diego
  • 2. ROR icon University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  • 3. ROR icon University of California, Davis
  • 4. ROR icon Oregon Health & Science University

Description

This study investigates the relationship between glaucoma and retinal fluorescence lifetimes using FLIO. The results show that participants with glaucoma have shorter mean lifetimes compared to those without glaucoma, even after adjusting for age and diabetes status. The study suggests that glaucoma may be associated with altered metabolic activity in the retina.

Abstract

Title: Abridged Retinal Fluorescence Lifetimes in Glaucoma Purpose: Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Ophthalmoscopy (FLIO) is an imaging modality that examines fluorophores in the retina, which reflect metabolic activity and can be used for diagnosis of inherited retinal disease prior to the appearance of other changes. This cross-sectional study investigates the relationship between glaucoma and FLIO fluorescence lifetimes. Methods: 278 participants from the Bridge2AI Artificial Intelligence – Ready and Exploratory Atlas for Diabetes Insights (AI-READI) project who completed an ocular health survey and bilateral FLIO imaging were identified. Per-pixel lifetimes were calculated for the FLIO imaging using an incomplete two component exponential model. Grids were overlaid on the images as specified by the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study and mean lifetimes were calculated for each zone. Thirty participants self-reporting a history of glaucoma in either eye were matched to sixty similar age and diabetes-status participants without a history of glaucoma for analysis. A t-test was performed on the regional lifetimes to compare the FLIO mean lifetime (tm) from participants with glaucoma to the matched group of participants without glaucoma. Results: For the glaucoma group and the non-glaucoma group respectively, the mean age was 66.2±10.5 years vs 62.5±10.6 years (p=0.08) and diabetes prevalence was higher in the glaucoma group (53.3% vs 43.1%, p = 0.39). After matching the participants, glaucoma was associated with shortened mean FLIO lifetimes in the short long wavelength across all ETDRS regions (all p < 0.05, mean difference in tm ranging from -146 ps to -212 ps). Conclusion: Participants with a history of glaucoma had abridged fluorescence lifetimes. These findings may reflect changes in the structure or metabolic activity of the retinal nerve fibers due to pathophysiologic changes seen in glaucoma.

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FLIO_Glaucoma_Poster_EyeTEACH_Limaye.pdf

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Additional details

Related works

Is derived from
Dataset: https://aireadi.org/ (URL)
Is described by
Other: https://posters.science/discover/24354 (URL)

Funding

National Institutes of Health
OT2OD032644

Dates

Submitted
2026-08-29
Submitted to Zenodo through Posters.science
Other
2026-06-06
Poster presentation date