Electroretinography
Electroretinography is the name of an electrical technique for recording changes in the electrical potential of the retina of the eye when it is stimulated by light. This technique is capable of measuring the electrical responses of many of the different types of cells that form the retina.
Electroretinography is used to record an "electroretinogram" (or "ERG" for short).
This process involves placing one electrode onto the front of the eye (in a contact lens) and attaching another electrode to the person's skin, sometimes at the back of the person's head. While an electroretinogram is being recorded the person's eyes are exposed to specific standard stimuli. The electroretinogram itself consists of electrical potentials contributed by different cell types within the retina. The stimulus conditions, such as flash or pattern stimulus, a background light being activated or not, and the colours of the stimulus and background, can provoke different sets of responses from different types of cells in the retina.
Electroretinography is useful for studying and diagnosing some retinal diseases, especially in situations when it is difficult for the ophthalmologist to view the retina directly, e.g. due to cataracts.
More about Ophthalmology:
This section includes short definitions
of many diseases, disorders, and conditions of the eyes and visual system.
For definitions of other terms in this category, choose from the list
to the left (but note that this is not a complete/exhaustive list).
Other related pages include
- A diagram of the eye
- Definitions and descriptions of the parts of the eye
- A concise description of the human retina
- Definitions of parts of the retina
- Diseases and disorders of the human eye and the human visual system
For further information see also our pages of books about ophthalmology.
The following books may also be of interest:
