November 2025 - Anja Agneter

Dipl.-Ing. Anja Agneter, BSc, PhD

MedUni Wien RESEARCHER OF THE MONTH November 2025

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is essential in ophthalmology for capturing high-resolution, cross-sectional images non-invasively and without any contrast agents. Since retinal biopsies are not possible, OCT plays a key role in the early detection and monitoring of diseases like age-related macular degeneration (AMD). A compact, low-cost OCT device would improve access, especially in remote, low-resource areas or for home monitoring. To achieve this, photonic integrated circuits (PICs) - millimeter-sized chips that guide and manipulate light - can be used. Anja Agneter and her team replaced the complex spectrometer, a core OCT component, with a single PIC-based chip integrating optical and electronic elements for the first time suitable for ophthalmic imaging. In vivo tomograms of human skin and zebrafish larvae proved the systems imaging capability paving the way to a miniaturized, cost-effective, and maintenance-free OCT system.

Selected Literature

1. Agneter, A., Muellner, P., Nguyen, Q., Seyringer, D., Rank, E. A., Vlaskovic, M., Kraft, J., Sagmeister, M., Nevlacsil, S., Eggeling, M., Maese-Novo, A., Morozov, Y., Schmitner, N., Kimmel, R. A., Bodenstorfer, E., Cipriano, P., Zimmermann, H., Leitgeb, R. A., Hainberger, R.  & Drexler, W. (2024). CMOS optoelectronic spectrometer based on photonic integrated circuit for in vivo 3D optical coherence tomography. PhotoniX, 5(1), 31.

2. Fujimoto, J. G., & Drexler, W. (2015). Optical Coherence Tomography: Technology and Applications, Second Edition

3. Fleckenstein M, Schmitz-Valckenberg S, Chakravarthy U. Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Review. JAMA. 2024;331(2):147–157. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.26074

4. Wong TY, Tan TE. The Diabetic Retinopathy "Pandemic" and Evolving Global Strategies: The 2023 Friedenwald Lecture. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2023 Dec 1;64(15):47. doi:10.1167/iovs.64.15.47. PMID: 38153754; PMCID: PMC10756246.

5. Wolfram C. The Epidemiology of Glaucoma - an Age-Related Disease. Klin Monbl Augenheilkd. 2024 Feb;241(2):154-161. English, German. doi: 10.1055/a-2257-6940. Epub 2024 Feb 27. PMID:38412979.

6. Agneter, A., Rank, E. A., Schmoll, T., Leitgeb, R. A., & Drexler, W. (2022). Miniaturizing optical coherence tomography. Translational Biophotonics, 4(1-2), e202100007.
7. https://www.linkedin.com/company/handheldoct-miniaturized-optical-coherence-tomography/?viewAsMember=true
8. https://www.researchproject.at/handheldoct/home.php