I recently had the chance to get a hands-on look at the Eidon confocal retinal scanner.  The Eidon is a hybrid device combining features of a non-mydriatic fundus camera with confocal scanning technology. It is manufactured in Italy by Centervue SpA. Centervue describes this instrument as the first true color confocal scanner on the market. It is different than a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope in that it uses a broad spectrum white light LED (440-650 nm) rather than monochromatic lasers.  A second light source provides near infrared (IR) imaging at 825-870 nm. The advantage to confocal imaging is that it suppresses out-of-focus light from reaching the image sensor. This minimizes the effect of cataracts or other media opacities, resulting in sharp, high contrast images. The confocal design also allows it to image through a smaller pupil than a typical non-mydriatic camera.

The footprint of the Eidon is fairly compact, but the instrument is taller than most fundus cameras. The device is operated via touch screen tablet and has both automatic and manual controls.  The Eidon has a fixed 60 field of view, but is capable of capturing several fields and creating montage images. It features a 14 megapixel sensor to capture color, red free, and infrared images. The red free photos are extracted from the color image rather than through a separate exposure with a blue-green light source.

The capture software is incredibly simple to use. It is about as automatic as a device can get. Using the touch screen tablet, you enter the patient demographics and program it for the desired fields of one or both eyes and push the start button. The device does the rest automatically, even telling the patient to open their eyes prior to each flash capture.

The internal fixation light will step through the various fields and capture each one automatically. Auto-alignment is accomplished by identifying the center of the patient’s pupil with IR.  It will then focus automatically with a range of -12D to +15D. Once focused in IR, the camera will slightly readjust focus just prior to color capture to account for the difference in wavelengths between color and IR. The autofocus works very well, but eye movement during capture can contribute a slight blur to the image.

Minimum pupil size is 2.5mm. It does capture good images at this pupil size in the posterior pole view but like any other non-myd device, it works a little better if patients are pharmacologically dilated. This is especially helpful when imaging peripheral fields or you plan to do a montage. I have found this to be true with all non-myd color fundus cameras. I would like to see separate exposure settings to reduce the gain and noise for eyes with widely (pharmacologically) dilated pupils.

The resulting images appear different than what we see with either a digital fundus camera or a cSLO. Centervue refers to the broad spectrum imaging as “True Color” to distinguish Eidon images from SLO composite laser color images from Spectralis or Optos.

The Eidon attempts to address some of the limitations of digital fundus cameras that are poorly calibrated for color balance, gamma, and exposure. In doing so, it seems to sacrifice some color fidelity and a true appearance of the optic nerve. The red channel is desaturated to avoid loss of detail from oversaturation, but many Eidon images appear slightly green and might benefit from a little more red or magenta bias to the color balance.

Although the pixel count of the Eidon sensor is quite high, the color images seem a little over-processed and a bit noisy when zoomed in, probably from  the increased contrast as well as the high gain settings that allow it to capture through very small pupils.

One of the features touted by the manufacturer is that it prevents “optic disc bleaching” seen with some fundus cameras. It does hold detail in optic disc photos, but the flip side to this is that the rim of the nerve can appear abnormally dark or gray, making it difficult to document pallor. Disc bleaching shouldn’t be  a problem in fundus cameras that are calibrated for proper contrast and exposure.

I also played with the digital joystick and manual mode changing the level of focus to see if the instrument exhibited the confocal tonal shift seen with the Spectralis. In playing with manual mode to alter focus or exposure, it became clear that the instrument works best in full-auto mode.

The Eidon review software is functional, but could be a little more streamlined. It would be nice to scroll though successive images, rather than having to go back and forth to the proof sheet to open each frame individually. The montage software works quite well.

The bottom line is that the Eidon is a very interesting hybrid device that combines features of confocal scanning with full color capture in a package that is incredibly simple to use. It would be a great screening tool or replacement for a fundus camera in primary eye care settings and would require minimal staff expertise or training.

Thanks to Todd Hostetter, CRA, COMT for bringing the device to the clinic for a demo, and to Jim Strong, CRA, OCT-C for help taking some of the images.

Disclaimer: I have no financial or proprietary interest in this device.