Methods and systems for imaging the fundus of the eye are disclosed, in which the fundus is illuminated through a mask which blocks light from reaching one or more masked regions within a peripheral area surrounding a target area of interest, such as the macular region. An image is obtained of both the target area and the peripheral area. A scattered light value is derived from the image intensity within the masked regions, and this is used to compensate and adjust the measured intensity of light within the target area. When employed in the measurement of macular pigment optical degeneration, an improved measurement is obtained in which the specific image(s) used for measurement have a specifically calculated correction factor applied to compensate for light scatter, rather than relying on population-based average scattering values.
