Handheld instrument for the measurement of Macular Pigment Optical Density using structured light

A handheld, standalone optical instrument was developed for the in-vivo assessment of the eye’s macular pigment optical density. The instrument is based on the reflectometry method, where the retina is illuminated with light of the appropriate spatial, temporal, and spectral characteristics and the reflected light from the fundus is collected using a high-speed photodetector. The collected light is then analysed and the corresponding value for macular pigment in the eye is computed.