[Simultaneous digital ICG and fluorescein videoangiography with the personal computer].

BACKGROUND Since the invention of the simultaneous ICG and fluorescein (SIF) videoangiography in 1995 none of the available SLOs were significantly improved. Digital video recording with a PC can simplify and improve the quality of the angiography. METHOD SIF angiography images of a two-wavelength scanning laser ophthalmoscope were digitized with a personal computer and written to disk with at rate of 25 images/s as a non-compressed digital video file. The digitized image sequence could be replayed with any standard video player and converted to different image and video file formats with a file conversion utility, developed specifically for the needs of SIF angiography. RESULTS Recording of digital SIF videoangiograms with a personal computer is not more complicated than the conventional video method. Since most of the parameters of the recording software are customizable, processing methods can be tailored to individual needs. Off-line processing and/or storage of the images in a digital database are possible immediately after recording. To facilitate localization of the pathological landmarks on the fundus the two channels of the SIF angiograms can be observed as combined red-green images. CONCLUSIONS Compared to conventional videoangiography, digital SIF videoangiography has only advantages: the image quality is better, it is less complicated and not more expensive than the conventional one. Digital recording should replace the conventional one.