The time course of changes in retinal vessel diameter in response to differing durations of flicker light provocation

Rebekka Heitmar*, Robert J. Summers

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the response of retinal vessels to differing durations of flicker light (FL) sitmulation.
Methods: We recorded retinal arterial and venous vessel dilation to 12.5 Hz flicker light provocation (Retinal Vessel Analyzer, Imedos Systems) of varying duration (5, 7, 10 and 20 seconds) in twelve healthy young individuals (age range 26-45 yrs). All participants underwent a full ocular examination including intraocular pressure and blood pressure measurements.
Results: Maximum dilation (MD) did not show a significant dependence on flicker duration in arteries whereas maximum constriction (MC) did. However, in veins MD significantly increased with flicker duration. Approximately 80-90% of MD in arteries is reached within 10 seconds of flicker light stimulation.
Conclusions: The vast majority of arterial dilatory capacity is reached within 10 seconds of flicker light stimulation even though venous dilation continues strongly. Since the MC of arteries shows a significant dependence on flicker duration measurements at two different durations can provide more information about the retinal vascular system than at a single flicker duration alone.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7581-7588
Number of pages8
JournalInvestigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science
Volume56
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2015

Bibliographical note

Copyright 2015 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc

Keywords

  • retinal vessel dilation
  • flicker-light stimulation
  • flicker duration

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