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The European Research Council (ERC- EuropeanResearch Council) has awarded one of the five Proof of Concept Grant (PoC) awarded in Spain to the professor and director of the Optical Laboratory of the University of Murcia (UMU) Pablo Artal to carry out the OpMaEye project. The research aims to develop a non-invasive optical instrument to simply measure the amount of macular pigment in the retina of the human eye, linked to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease that affects millions of people in the world and one of the main causes of blindness in Europe. And it is that, although there is still no consensus in the scientific community, it is believed that a higher concentration of macular pigment serves as protection for the retina and, therefore, reduces the probability of the pathology developing.

For this reason, Pablo Artal points out that "having an instrument like ours to easily measure the amount of pigment can serve to better understand this possible role of protection." Likewise, the director of the UMU Optical Laboratory emphasizes that the ultimate goal is "to offer a simple and inexpensive solution to measure changes in the macular pigment in the eye.

If successful, this can provide a great service to help many people with current or future visual disabilities.

" Age-related macular degeneration There is scientific evidence that nutritional counseling could reduce or delay the progression of AMD, since, according to Artal, "the modification of the diet, or the intake of supplements can facilitate the increase of retinal carotenoids lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z), which are the ones that form the macular pigment.

And, therefore, prevent age-related macular degeneration.

" In these treatments, indicates the researcher, "periodic measurements of the optical density of the macular pigment are essential.

However, to date, instruments capable of measuring the amount of this pigment in the retina are difficult to use or very expensive" .

Source: Universidad de Murcia