Patent ID: 9662407
Date: 2017-05-30
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61K

Claim:
1. A method for identifying whether a compound is useful for the treatment of a blinding eye disease, comprising: (a) administering the compound to an animal whose eye comprises: (i) a fluorescent compound ingested by retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in the eye and indicating the presence of a blinding eye disease in the animal; wherein the fluorescent compound is indocyanine green (ICG) administered systemically to the animal, and (ii) a RPE toxin in an amount effective to induce atrophy of RPE cells; (b) exposing the eye to light having a wavelength of about 600 nm to about 900 nm effective to cause the fluorescent compound to fluoresce; (c) comparing the eye's fluorescence pattern to a fluorescence pattern of an animal's eye that comprises the fluorescent compound and the toxin, but not the compound; and (d) selecting the compound if the result of the comparison of step (c) indicates that the compound is useful for the treatment of a blinding eye disease.