title: HYPERSPECTRAL AUTOFLUORESCENCE IMAGING OF DRUSEN AND RETINAL PIGMENT EPITHELIUM IN DONOR EYES WITH AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To elucidate the molecular pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and interpretation of fundus autofluorescence imaging, the authors identified spectral autofluorescence characteristics of drusen and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in donor eyes with AMD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Macular RPE/Bruch membrane flat mounts were prepared from 5 donor eyes with AMD. In 12 locations (1-3 per eye), hyperspectral autofluorescence images in 10-nm-wavelength steps were acquired at 2 excitation wavelengths (λex 436, 480 nm). A nonnegative tensor factorization algorithm was used to recover 5 abundant emission spectra and their corresponding spatial localizations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At λex 436 nm, the authors consistently localized a novel spectrum (SDr) with a peak emission near 510 nm in drusen and sub-RPE deposits. Abundant emission spectra seen previously (S0 in Bruch membrane and S1, S2, and S3 in RPE lipofuscin/melanolipofuscin, respectively) also appeared in AMD eyes, with the same shapes and peak wavelengths as in normal tissue. Lipofuscin/melanolipofuscin spectra localizations in AMD eyes varied widely in their overlap with drusen, ranging from none to complete.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An emission spectrum peaking at ∼510 nm (λex 436 nm) appears to be sensitive and specific for drusen and sub-RPE deposits. One or more abundant spectra from RPE organelles exhibit characteristic relationships with drusen.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Ophthalmology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York; †Department of Computer Science and Engineering, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, New York; ‡Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena, Germany; §Institute of Physical Chemistry and Abbe Center of Photonics, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany; ¶Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina; **Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, Alabama; and ††Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Yuehong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Tal
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ben Ami
authors.forename: Sungmin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Heintzmann
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gerig
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ablonczy
authors.forename: Christine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Curcio
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ach
authors.forename: R Theodore
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D061848:Optical Imaging; D015593:Retinal Drusen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*