A NEW £500,000 state-of-the art centre offering the very latest in eye imaging technology has opened its doors in Bradford.

The Bradford Macula Centre, part of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has moved out of the temporary building it used to share with the pain management clinic at St Luke’s Hospital in Trinity Road, to have its own space in the hospital grounds.

And two long-attending macula patients, Levi Hall and Margaret Topham, unveiled the plaque at the opening ceremony which was attended by representatives from Bayer Pharmaceuticals. The company funded a new Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) scanner for the unit.

The plaque is dedicated to the memory of ophthalmology staff nurse, Diana Jonas, who passed away last year. It was unveiled by her dad, Brian Dyle and her sister-in-law, Julie Jonas.

The new centre means patients with suspected wet macular degeneration, a condition that causes the loss of central vision usually in both eyes, will now be seen and treated for the condition more quickly.

The Trust estimates it could double the number of patients it can see coming into the clinic for help.

The sophisticated scanning system produces highly detailed images of the retina and is like an MRI or an x-ray.

Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon, Helen Devonport said: “This scanner allows us to see detailed images of the retina (the lining of the back of the eye), enabling us to accurately detect, monitor and manage changes to the retina. This latest technology allows us to see flow in blood vessels in the retina without having to inject patients with dye.

"Previously abnormal blood vessels could only be detected on photos taken after patients received an intravenous injection of one or two dyes. So we are very grateful to Bayer for their support.”