General Information
A network for research on the retina
The eye is a window to the brain. There is evidence that not only age related diseases as macula degeneration but also diseases like Alzheimer’s can be diagnosed via the retina. This is the research target of the MOON consortium supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
What is the aim of the work in MOON?
Rainer Leitgeb: We are looking for ways for early and reliable diagnosis of diseases such as age-related macula degeneration and Alzheimer’s and their progression through the combination of front-end spectroscopic methods and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). The abbreviation MOON stands for Multimodal Optical Diagnosis of Ocular and Neurodegenerative disease.
How can Alzheimer be diagnosed via the retina?
Neurodegenerative diseases do not only harm our brain, but lead also to pathologic changes of the retina. With our method, that is based on light, we do not need to look into the brain. At the end the patient would comfortably sit in front of a system, that scans the retina in a contact-free manner, and allows for a reliable diagnosis within a couple of a few minutes.
Why did MOON succeed in being funded by the highly competitive Horizon-2020 programme?
We know that within the next 30 years the number of affected people by age-related diseases will roughly double. This is a critical and major burden for our global healthcare systems. If for example Alzheimer’s could be delayed by 5 years, this would not only be of benefit for the patients and their relatives and caretakers. It also saves resources otherwise spent for intensive treatment and care. We are talking about numbers of the order of billions of EUR. And our research focus corresponds exactly to this strategic orientation of Horizon 2020: we are working on a solution to such major societal challenge.
This project is coordinated by the Medical University of Vienna and has a balanced composition of academic and industry partners.
We are collaborating with the IPHT in Germany, which is internationally recognized for advanced spectroscopy methods, and perfectly balancing the expertise of the MedUni Vienna in OCT. Further collaboration partner is the non-profit Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific research, which is well connected within programmes on neurodegenerative diseases in Netherlands and complements the expertise in both concerning biomedical aspects and photonic technologies. The translational strength of the consortium is supported by globally acting medical and photonic device producers, being Zeiss, Horiba, and Innolume.
What is the strength of the coordinator location at the MedUni Vienna?
The interdisciplinary aspect of the project is very important. The Center of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering maintains close door-to-door cooperation with the University Department of Ophthalmology and Optometry as well as the Neurology Department within the Medical University. Especially the close link to the clinics makes the location interesting for companies in the medical field.
