Electroretinography measures the electrical responses of various cell types in the retina, including the photoreceptors (rods and cones), inner retinal cells (bipolar and amacrine cells), and the ganglion cells. Electrodes are placed on the surface of the cornea (DTL silver/nylon fiber string or ERG jet) or on the skin beneath the eye (sensor strips) to measure retinal responses. Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) responses are measured with an EOG test with skin-contact electrodes placed near the canthi. During a recording, the patient's eyes are exposed to standardized stimuli and the resulting signal is displayed showing the time course of the signal's amplitude (voltage). Signals are very small, and typically are measured in microvolts or nanovolts. The ERG is composed of electrical potentials contributed by different cell types within the retina, and the stimulus conditions (flash or pattern stimulus, whether a background light is present, and the colors of the stimulus and background) can elicit stronger response from certain components.
If a dim flash ERG is performed on a dark-adapted eye, the response is primarily from the rod system. Flash ERGs performed on a light adapted eye will reflect the activity of the cone system. Sufficiently bright flashes will elicit ERGs containing an a-wave (initial negative deflection) followed by a b-wave (positive deflection). The leading edge of the a-wave is produced by the photoreceptors, while the remainder of the wave is produced by a mixture of cells including photoreceptors, bipolar, amacrine, and Müller cells or Müller glia. The pattern ERG (PERG), evoked by an alternating checkerboard stimulus, primarily reflects activity of retinal ganglion cells.
Clinically used mainly by ophthalmologists the electroretinogram (ERG) is used for the diagnosis of various retinal diseases.
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Nyctalopia (ˌnɪktəˈloʊpiə; ), also called night-blindness, is a condition making it difficult or impossible to see in relatively low light. It is a symptom of several eye diseases. Night blindness may exist from birth, or be caused by injury or malnutrition (for example, vitamin A deficiency). It can be described as insufficient adaptation to darkness. The most common cause of nyctalopia is retinitis pigmentosa, a disorder in which the rod cells in the retina gradually lose their ability to respond to the light.
The pigmented layer of retina or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is the pigmented cell layer just outside the neurosensory retina that nourishes retinal visual cells, and is firmly attached to the underlying choroid and overlying retinal visual cells. The RPE was known in the 18th and 19th centuries as the pigmentum nigrum, referring to the observation that the RPE is dark (black in many animals, brown in humans); and as the tapetum nigrum, referring to the observation that in animals with a tapetum lucidum, in the region of the tapetum lucidum the RPE is not pigmented.
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visual field). As peripheral vision worsens, people may experience "tunnel vision". Complete blindness is uncommon. Onset of symptoms is generally gradual and often begins in childhood. Retinitis pigmentosa is generally inherited from one or both parents. It is caused by genetic variants in nearly 100 genes.
Covers the processing of visual information in the eye, the anatomy of the retina, the biochemistry of photoreceptors, and the use of implants to treat visual impairments.
Background Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) affects 2.5 million people worldwide. Increased identification of causative gene defects and the increasing possibility of treatment necessitates better knowledge of phenotype-genotype correlations to help identify pati ...
Objective. Retinal prostheses hold the potential to restore artificial vision in blind patients suffering from outer retinal dystrophies. The optimal number, density and coverage of the electrodes that a retinal prosthesis should have to provide adequate a ...
Zebrafish show an extraordinary potential for regeneration in several organs from fins to central nervous system. Most impressively, the outcome of an injury results in a near perfect regeneration and a full functional recovery. Indeed, among the various i ...