Orsay France, January 14, 2010  – Following on the success of the INOVEO project, which unveiled the world’s first compact Adaptive Optics Flood Illumination Fundus Camera (AO FIFC) in 2008, the iPhot project has received a 940K€ (approximately $US1.35M) grant from France’s National Research Agency (ANR) TecSan program.  iPhot will unite the unique industrial knowhow of Imagine Eyes and Onera with four academic partners including the Quinze-Vingts hospital (France’s National Institute for Ophthalmology), the INSERM (France’s National Institute for Health and Medical Research), Telecom ParisTech and L2TI.

“The ultimate goal of the iPhot project is to optimize the process of adaptive-optics enabled retinal imaging in order to obtain morphological, quantitative and longitudinal information at the level of single photoreceptor cells in humans” notes Imagine Eyes’ CEO Nicolas Chateau.  Adding “Clinical investigations related to this particular project will be focused on early detection of photoreceptor damage in cases of genetically or phenotypically defined inheritable retinal dystrophies.  As the project and its technology advances, we plan to partner with additional clinical investigation sites to perform research on the healthy retina as well as other retinal diseases.”

“Unfortunately, most cases retinal of disease are diagnosed only once the patient has suffered significant, irreparable vision loss” says Pr. Michel Paques, iPhot’s Project Coordinator, from the Quinze-Vingts hospital.  “Functional testing detects visual impairment only once a significant proportion of cells have degenerated. More importantly, functional defects, and the associated morphological changes at the level of outer segments, can precede cell loss.  The current imaging technologies that are used to diagnose and monitor the effectiveness of treatment lack the cellular level resolution needed to observe the retinal microstructures causing the visual dysfunction.  The comprehensive analysis of the relationship between structural and functional parameters will guide both prognostic assessment and therapeutic decision making in affected patients.  It should equally provide clues to discriminate and quantify irreversible versus reversible lesions.”

To view images obtained with Imagine Eyes’ adaptive-optics retinal camera, follow this link: http://www.imagine-eyes.com/content/view/124/127/.

In addition to the funding received through the ANR, each of the partners will contribute significant resources to ensure the project’s success.  Over the course of the 2-year project, the iPhot team will concentrate on improving the prototype’s design and overall performances while establishing an image bank that will facilitate comparative analysis of healthy versus pathologically affected retinal microstructures.

For more information about iPhot and adaptive optics in retinal imaging, visit www.imagine-eyes.com.  Members of the press are invited to call Mark Zacharria at +33 (0)1 46 28 03 13 or to contact him by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Imagine Eyes will be exhibiting at BiOS during Photonics West on booth 8734.