High-speed, ultra-high resolution OCT offers improved visualization

May 3

- Fort Lauderdale, FL - High-speed, ultra-high resolution (UHR) optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides improved coverage and resolution of the retinal nerve fiber layer, optic disk tomography, and macular thickness, according to V. Srinivasan of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.

Srinivasan demonstrated that compared with the first available OCT system and the second-generation UHR OCT, the high-speed UHR system retinal pathologies allows visualization of the true retinal topography, improves the image quality by acquiring many lines simultaneously, increases coverage of the retina and reduces sampling errors, and proves three-dimensional mapping and imaging of the tissue microstructure. The retinal pathologies that the investigators imaged included macular hole, central serous chorioretinopathy, epiretinal membrane, macular edema, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration. One disadvantage of high-speed UHR OCT is that the sensitivity is decreased with increasing tissue depth.

He pointed out at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology that two light sources are available: titanium sapphire laser and Broadlighter source, both of which provide comparable results. However, the latter is more compact, substantially cheaper, and easier to operate.

Srinivasan and colleagues have to date imaged over 200 patients with this technology.