Search

Purpose: To develop deep learning (DL) models to predict best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) from optical coherence tomography (OCT) images from patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD)., Methods: Retrospective analysis of OCT images and associated BCVA measurements from the phase 3 HARBOR trial (NCT00891735). DL regression models were developed to predict BCVA at the concurrent visit and 12 months from baseline using OCT images. Binary classification models were developed to predict BCVA of Snellen equivalent of <20/40, <20/60, and ≤20/200 at the concurrent visit and 12 months from baseline., Results: The regression model to predict BCVA at the concurrent visit had R 2 = 0.67 (root-mean-square error [RMSE] = 8.60) in study eyes and R 2 = 0.84 (RMSE = 9.01) in fellow eyes. The best classification model to predict BCVA at the concurrent visit had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.92 in study eyes and 0.98 in fellow eyes. The regression model to predict BCVA at month 12 using baseline OCT had R 2 = 0.33 (RMSE = 14.16) in study eyes and R 2 = 0.75 (RMSE = 11.27) in fellow eyes. The best classification model to predict BCVA at month 12 had AUC = 0.84 in study eyes and AUC = 0.96 in fellow eyes., Conclusions: DL shows promise in predicting BCVA from OCTs in nAMD. Further research should elucidate the utility of models in clinical settings., Translational Relevance: DL models predicting BCVA could be used to enhance understanding of structure-function relationships and develop more efficient clinical trials., Competing Interests: Disclosure: M.G. Kawczynski, Genentech, Inc. (E); T. Bengtsson, Genentech, Inc. (E); J. Dai, Genentech, Inc. (E); J.J. Hopkins, Genentech, Inc. (E); S.S. Gao, Genentech, Inc. (E); J.R. Willis, Genentech, Inc. (E), (Copyright 2020 The Authors.)

Purpose: To elucidate the relationship between vessel density (VD) measurements and signal strength in OCT angiography (OCTA)., Design: Cross-sectional study., Participants: Healthy volunteers., Methods: OCT angiography images obtained from healthy volunteers were analyzed to demonstrate the relationship between signal strength index (SSI) and VD. Experiments were performed to determine the effects of signal strength reduction on VD measurements on the Optovue/AngioVue (Optovue, Inc, Fremont, CA) and Cirrus/AngioPlex OCTA (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc, Dublin, CA) systems. Signal strength reduction was generated by either neutral density filters (NDFs) or defocus., Main Outcome Measures: Regression analysis of signal strength effects on VD., Results: Vessel density decreased linearly with signal strength with high statistical significance on both OCTA systems tested and for all analyzed sources of variation in signal strength. The slope of VD versus SSI was greatest when signal strength was adjusted by NDFs, followed by defocus, interscan difference, interindividual variation, and left-right eye difference. Multivariate analysis revealed that both SSI and age had a significant effect on the interindividual variation in VD., Conclusions: Vessel density measurements using OCTA were affected significantly by OCT signal strengths on 2 OCTA platforms. Investigators should exercise caution when interpreting VD data from OCTA scans. Quantification algorithms for OCTA should ideally remove the signal strength bias., (Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This study measured and correlated degeneration of the junction between the inner and outer segments (IS/OS), the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and the choriocapillaris (CC) in Stargardt disease (STGD)., Design: Prospective cross-sectional study., Methods: This study was conducted at the Casey Eye Institute. A total of 23 patients with STGD were enrolled and underwent optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Scans were centered on the fovea. OCT slab projections and en face boundary maps were used to create masks to measure total IS/OS loss or RPE atrophy as well as regions of isolated IS/OS loss, isolated RPE atrophy, and matched IS/OS and RPE degeneration or intact IS/OS junction and RPE. CC vascular density (CCVD) was quantified from the CC angiogram. Outcomes included the area of loss, and the CCVD of degeneration in different areas was quantified and correlated., Results: The total area of IS/OS loss was strongly correlated with the total area of RPE atrophy (r = 0.96; P < 0.0001) by a 1.6:1 ratio (r 2  = 0.90). CCVD within regions of matched degeneration (85.6% ± 2.7%; P < 0.0001), isolated IS/OS junction loss (93.6% ± 1.0%; P = 0.0011), and isolated RPE atrophy (94.1% ± 1.1%; P = 0.0065) were all significantly lower than normal (99.0% ± 0.17%). There was a trend for CCVD within intact areas (97.6% ± 0.38%) to decline as the area diminished (r = 0.68)., Conclusions: Photoreceptor and RPE degeneration exhibited a strong relationship wherein the IS/OS loss was 1.6-fold greater than that of RPE atrophy, supporting the theory that photoreceptor degeneration precedes RPE in STGD. Both the photoreceptors and the RPE degeneration contributed synergistically to CCVD attenuation, but extralesional CCVD also tended to be abnormal. The findings and techniques in this study may be of utility in developing endpoints for clinical trials., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To detect macular perfusion defects in glaucoma using projection-resolved optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography., Design: Prospective observation study., Participants: A total of 30 perimetric glaucoma and 30 age-matched normal participants were included., Methods: One eye of each participant was imaged using 6×6-mm macular OCT angiography (OCTA) scan pattern by 70-kHz 840-nm spectral-domain OCT. Flow signal was calculated by the split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography algorithm. A projection-resolved OCTA (PR-OCTA) algorithm was used to remove flow projection artifacts. Four en face OCTA slabs were analyzed: the superficial vascular complex (SVC), intermediate capillary plexus (ICP), deep capillary plexus (DCP), and all-plexus retina (SVC + ICP + DCP). The vessel density (VD), defined as the percentage area occupied by flow pixels, was calculated from en face OCTA. A novel algorithm was used to adjust the vessel density to compensate for local variations in OCT signal strength., Main Outcome Measures: Macular retinal VD, ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness, and visual field (VF) sensitivity., Results: Focal capillary dropout could be visualized in the SVC, but not the ICP and DVP, in glaucomatous eyes. In the glaucoma group, the SVC and all-plexus retinal VD (mean ± standard deviation: 47.2%±7.1% and 73.5%±6.6%) were lower than in the normal group (60.5%±4.0% and 83.2%±4.2%, both P < 0.001, t test). The ICP and DCP VD were not significantly lower in the glaucoma group. Among the overall macular VD parameters, the SVC VD had the best diagnostic accuracy as measured by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AROC). The accuracy was even better when the worse hemisphere (inferior or superior) was used, achieving an AROC of 0.983 and a sensitivity of 96.7% at a specificity of 95%. Among the glaucoma participants, the hemispheric SVC VD values were highly correlated with the corresponding GCC thickness and VF sensitivity (P < 0.003). The reflectance compensation step in VD calculation significantly improved repeatability, normal population variation, and correlation with VF and GCC thickness., Conclusions: On the basis of PR-OCTA, glaucoma preferentially affects perfusion in the SVC in the macula more than the deeper plexuses. Reflectance-compensated SVC VD measurement by PR-OCTA detected glaucoma with high accuracy and could be useful in the clinical evaluation of glaucoma., (Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To evaluate the morphological structure of ill-defined choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) with traditional fluorescein angiography (FA) compared with optical coherence tomographic angiography (OCTA)., Methods: A retrospective case series study of 11 eyes with ill-defined CNV on FA was performed. Eyes were scanned with commercially available spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) (70 000 A-scans/s). The split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography (SSADA) algorithm was used to distinguish blood flow from static tissue. En face OCT angiograms were compared with FA., Results: Eleven cases of ill-defined CNV on FA were identified from 10 study participants. Mean age of the participants was 74.5±6.8 years. Six cases had late leakage from undetermined source (LLUS) and five had fibrovascular pigment epithelial detachment (FVPED). Combining cross-sectional structural OCT with OCT angiograms, all cases were found to have type 1 CNV that corresponded to occult CNV with FA. In all cases of occult CNV on FA, distinct vascular structures were visible with OCTA in the outer retinal/retinal pigment epithelium slab. The mean CNV vessel area was 2.61±3.65 mm 2 . The mean CNV vessel area in cases with FVPED was larger than that in cases with LLUS (4.69±4.72 mm 2 compared with 0.85±0.90 mm 2 , Mann-Whitney p value=0.04)., Conclusions: Although the sample size is small to draw conclusions and the nature of work is retrospective and descriptive, OCTA has the potential to improve visualisation of ill-defined CNV with dye-based angiography, including occult CNV., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.)

Purpose: To demonstrate the clinical utility of optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography (OCT-A) in inherited retinal dystrophies complicated by choroidal neovascularization (CNV)., Methods: Optical coherence tomography angiography and structural OCT were performed using a 70-kHz spectral domain OCT system using the split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography algorithm. Semiautomated image processing software was used to segment and measure the CNV., Results: Four participants were enrolled to study the following inherited retinal dystrophies complicated by CNV: choroideremia, EFEMP1-related retinopathy, Best vitelliform dystrophy, and adult-onset vitelliform dystrophy. Interpretation of fluorescein angiography was difficult because of abnormal retinal architecture but suggested the presence of CNV. Structural OCT revealed subretinal or subretinal pigment epithelium fibrovascular tissue, within which flow signal was observed on OCT-A. The CNV morphology varied from dense capillary networks in active lesions to asymptomatic large caliber loops. Baseline CNV vessel areas ranged from 0.07 mm to 0.98 mm. After treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab, the CNV in choroideremia decreased in the vessel area then rebounded, whereas the one in EFEMP1-related retinopathy remained largely unchanged., Conclusion: Optical coherence tomography angiography enables morphologic characterization and quantification of CNV in patients with retinal dystrophies despite distorted retinal architecture, can assess response to treatment, and may facilitate differentiation between active and regressed lesions., Competing Interests: Proprietary interest: Oregon Health & Science University, Y.J., and D.H. have a significant financial interest in Optovue, Inc, a company that may have a commercial interest in the results of this research. These potential conflicts of interest have been reviewed and managed by OHSU. D.H. receives royalties on an optical coherence tomography patent licensed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Carl Zeiss Meditec. R.G.W. serves on Scientific Advisory Boards for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. This relationship has been reviewed and managed by OHSU. The other authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

Purpose: To compensate for reflectance variation when quantifying vessel density by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA)., Methods: Healthy participants received 6×6-mm macular and 4.5×4.5-mm optic nerve head (ONH) angiography scans on a 70-kHz spectral-domain optical coherence tomography system. The split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography (SSADA) algorithm was used to compute the OCTA signal. Mean reflectance projection and maximum decorrelation projection were used to create en face OCT and OCTA images. Background OCTA noise in static tissue was evaluated in the foveal avascular zone (FAZ). Vessel density was calculated from en face retinal OCTA that was binarized according to a decorrelation threshold., Results: The average retinal decorrelation noise in the FAZ was linearly related to the average logarithmic-scale OCT reflectance signal. Based on this relationship, a reflectance-adjusted decorrelation threshold equation was developed to filter out 97.5% of background OCTA noise. A fixed threshold was also used for comparison. The superficial vascular complex vessel density in the macula and ONH were significantly correlated with reflectance signal strength index (SSI) using the fixed threshold. This correlation was removed by using the reflectance-adjusted threshold. Reflectance compensation reduced population variation in 25 healthy eyes from 8.5% to 4.8% (coefficient of variation) in the macula and from 6.7% to 5.4% in the peripapillary region. Within-visit repeatability also improved from 4.4% to 1.8% in the macula and from 3% to 1.7% in the peripapillary region., Conclusions: Compensating for reflectance variation resulted in more reliable vessel density quantification in OCTA.

A microfluidic chip with microchannels ranging from 8 to 96  μm was used to mimic blood vessels down to the capillary level. Blood flow within the microfluidic channels was analyzed with split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography (SSADA)-based optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography. It was found that the SSADA decorrelation value was related to both blood flow speed and channel width. SSADA could differentiate nonflowing blood inside the microfluidic channels from static paper. The SSADA decorrelation value was approximately linear with blood flow velocity up to a threshold Vsat of 5.83±1.33  mm/s (mean±standard deviation over the range of channel widths). Beyond this threshold, it approached a saturation value Dsat. Dsat was higher for wider channels, and approached a maximum value Dsm as the channel width became much larger than the beam focal spot diameter. These results indicate that decorrelation values (flow signal) in capillary networks would be proportional to both flow velocity and vessel caliber but would be capped at a saturation value in larger blood vessels. These findings are useful for interpretation and quantification of clinical OCT angiography results.

Purpose: We observed and analyzed the morphologic characteristics of polypoidal lesions and abnormal branching vascular network (BVN) in patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA)., Methods: A retrospective observational case series was done of patients with PCV. All patients were scanned with a 70-kHz spectral-domain OCT system using the split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography (SSADA) algorithm to distinguish blood flow from static tissue. The OCTA images of these patients were compared to those from indocyanine green angiography (ICGA). Semiautomated segmentation was used to further analyze the polypoidal lesion and the BVN., Results: We studied 13 eyes of 13 patients 51 to 69 years old. A total of 11 patients were treatment-naive. Two patients had multiple anti-VEGF injections and one underwent photodynamic therapy (PDT). Optical coherence tomography angiography was able to detect the BVN in all cases. Using cross-sectional OCTA, BVN locations were shown to be in the space between the RPE and Bruch's membrane. Using en face OCTA, the BVN vascular pattern could be shown more clearly than by ICGA. Polypoidal lesions showed high flow signals in different patterns in 12 cases in the outer retina slab. Using cross-sectional OCTA, the polyps were shown to be just below the top of the pigment epithelial detachment (PED). In one case, the polypoidal lesion was not detectable at the outer retina slab., Conclusions: Optical coherence tomography angiography is a noninvasive imaging tool for detecting vascular changes in PCV. Branching vascular networks showed more clearly on OCTA than on ICGA. Polypoidal lesions had variable patterns on OCTA and were not always detected. The OCTA patterns of the polypoidal lesions and the BVN are helpful in understanding the pathology of PCV.

Quantification of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) as visualized by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) may have importance clinically when diagnosing or tracking disease. Here, we present an automated algorithm to quantify the vessel skeleton of CNV as vessel length. Initial segmentation of the CNV on en face angiograms was achieved using saliency-based detection and thresholding. A level set method was then used to refine vessel edges. Finally, a skeleton algorithm was applied to identify vessel centerlines. The algorithm was tested on nine OCTA scans from participants with CNV and comparisons of the algorithm’s output to manual delineation showed good agreement.

Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a noninvasive approach that can visualize blood vessels down to the capillary level. With the advent of high-speed OCT and efficient algorithms, practical OCTA of ocular circulation is now available to ophthalmologists. Clinical investigations that used OCTA have increased exponentially in the past few years. This review will cover the history of OCTA and survey its most important clinical applications. The salient problems in the interpretation and analysis of OCTA are described, and recent advances are highlighted.

Importance: Novel therapies for choroideremia, an X-linked recessive chorioretinal degeneration, demand a better understanding of the primary site(s) of cellular degeneration. Optical coherence tomography angiography allows for choriocapillaris (CC) imaging. We compared the extent of structural alterations of the CC, retinal pigment epithelium, and photoreceptors with multimodal imaging., Observations: In a clinical case series conducted from September 15, 2014, through February 5, 2015, 14 eyes of 7 male patients with choroideremia (median age, 34 years [interquartile range, 15-46 years]; age range, 13-48 years), 4 eyes of 2 women with choroideremia carrier state (both in mid-50s), and 6 eyes of 6 controls (median age, 42.5 years [interquartile range, 33-55 years]; age range, 24-55 years) underwent multimodal imaging with optical coherence tomography angiography and electroretinography. The mean (SD) macular CC density was 82.9% (13.4%) in patients with choroideremia, 93.0% (3.8%) in female carriers, and 98.2% (1.3%) in controls. The mean (SD) CC density in affected eyes was higher in regions with preserved (92.6% [5.8%]) vs absent (75.9% [12.6%]) ellipsoid zone (mean difference, 16.7%; 95% CI, 12.1% to 21.3%; P < .001). Seventeen of 18 eyes of the patients and carriers had outer retinal tubulations forming pseudopod-like extensions from islands of preserved ellipsoid zone. Outer retinal tubulations were associated with absence of underlying retinal pigment epithelium and were longer (r = -0.62; 95% CI, -0.84 to -0.19; P < .001) and more numerous (r = -0.71; 95% CI, -0.91 to -0.27; P < .001) in more severely affected eyes., Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that regional changes in CC density correlate with photoreceptor structural alterations in choroideremia. Although closely coupled, the results suggest that retinal pigment epithelium loss is more extensive than photoreceptor loss.

Importance: Macular ischemia is a key feature of diabetic retinopathy (DR). Quantification of macular ischemia has potential as a biomarker for DR., Objective: To assess the feasibility of automated quantification of capillary nonperfusion as a potential sign of macular ischemia using optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography., Design, Setting, and Participants: An observational study conducted in a tertiary, subspecialty, academic practice evaluated macular nonperfusion with 6 × 6-mm OCT angiography obtained with commercially available 70-kHz OCT and fluorescein angiography (FA). The study was conducted from January 22 to September 18, 2014. Data analysis was performed from October 1, 2014, to April 7, 2015. Participants included 12 individuals with normal vision serving as controls and 12 patients with various levels of DR., Main Outcomes and Measures: Preplanned primary measures were parafoveal and perifoveal vessel density, total avascular area, and foveal avascular zone as detected with 6 × 6-mm OCT angiography and analyzed using an automated algorithm. Secondary measures included the agreement of the avascular area between the OCT angiogram and FA., Results: Compared with the 12 healthy controls (11 women; mean [SD] age, 54.2 [14.2] years), the 12 participants with DR (4 women; mean [SD] age, 55.1 [12.1] years) had reduced parafoveal and perifoveal vessel density by 12.6% (95% CI, 7.7%-17.5%; P < .001) and 10.4% (95% CI, 6.8%-14.1%; P < .001), respectively. Total avascular area and foveal avascular zone area were greater in eyes with DR by 0.82 mm2 (95% CI, 0.65-0.99 mm2; P = .02) and 0.16 mm2 (95% CI, 0.05-0.28 mm2; P < .001). The agreement between the vascular areas in the OCT angiogram and FA had a κ value of 0.45 (95% CI, 0.21-0.70; P < .001). Total avascular area in the central 5.5-mm-diameter area distinguished eyes with DR from control eyes with 100% sensitivity and specificity., Conclusions and Relevance: Avascular area analysis with an automated algorithm using OCT angiography, although not equivalent to FA, detected DR reliably in this small pilot study. Further study is necessary to determine the usefulness of the automated quantification in clinical practice.

Optovue AngioVue system technology for optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography is based on the AngioVue Imaging System (Optovue, Inc., Freemont, CA), using split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography (SSADA) algorithm. This algorithm was developed to minimize scanning time. It detects motion in blood vessel lumen by measuring the variation in reflected OCT signal amplitude between consecutive cross-sectional scans. The novelty of SSADA lies in how the OCT signal is processed to enhance flow detection and reject axial bulk motion noise. Specifically, the algorithm splits the OCT image into different spectral bands, thus increasing the number of usable image frames. Each new frame has a lower axial resolution that is less susceptible to axial eye motion caused by blood pulsation. Optovue AngioVue system technology allows quantitative analysis. It provides numerical data about flow area and non-flow area. It can also generate a flow density map. These metrics may serve as biomarkers in diagnosis and for tracking disease progression or treatment response. Flow area: the software will calculate the drawn area and vessel area in mm(2). It allows for comparison of all measurements for a given participant. Non-flow area: the software shows the non-perfused areas by mouse click selection. Ischemic areas will be shown in yellow. These areas may be saved and matched with others in the study. Flow density tool is able to measure the percentage of vascular areas on en face angiograms. This analysis is based on an ETDRS grid centered on the macula as with the thickness map. This tool works both on inner and outer vascular plexus., (© 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Purpose: To describe the optical coherence tomography angiography features of diabetic retinopathy., Methods: Using a 70 kHz optical coherence tomography and the split-spectrum amplitude decorrelation angiography algorithm, 6 mm × 6 mm 3-dimensional angiograms of the macula of 4 patients with diabetic retinopathy were obtained and compared with fluorescein angiography for features cataloged by the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study., Results: Optical coherence tomography angiography detected enlargement and distortion of the foveal avascular zone, retinal capillary dropout, and pruning of arteriolar branches. Areas of capillary loss obscured by fluorescein leakage on fluorescein angiography were more clearly defined on optical coherence tomography angiography. Some areas of focal leakage on fluorescein angiography that were thought to be microaneurysms were found to be small tufts of neovascularization that extended above the inner limiting membrane., Conclusion: Optical coherence tomography angiography does not show leakage but can better delineate areas of capillary dropout and detect early retinal neovascularization. This new noninvasive angiography technology may be useful for routine surveillance of proliferative and ischemic changes in diabetic retinopathy.

Purpose: To evaluate eyes with age-related macular degeneration and high-risk characteristics for choroidal neovascularization (CNV) with optical coherence tomographic (OCT) angiography to determine whether earlier detection of CNV is possible., Methods: Eyes with drusen, pigmentary changes, and with CNV in the fellow eye were scanned with a 70-kHz spectral domain OCT system (Optovue RTVue-XR Avanti). The split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography (SSADA) algorithm was used to distinguish blood flow from static tissue. Two masked graders reviewed scans for CNV, defined as flow in the outer retinal/sub-RPE slab. Choroidal neovascularization flow area repeatability and between-grader reproducibility were calculated., Results: Of 32 eyes, 2 (6%) were found to have Type 1 CNV with OCT angiography. The lesions were not associated with leakage on fluorescein angiography or fluid on OCT. One case was followed for 8 months without treatment, and the CNV flow area enlarged slightly without fluid buildup on OCT or vision loss. Between-grader reproducibility of the CNV flow area was 9.4% (coefficient of variation) and within-visit repeatability was 5.2% (pooled coefficient of variation)., Conclusion: Optical coherence tomographic angiography can detect the presence of nonexudative CNV, lesions difficult to identify with fluorescein angiography and OCT. Further study is needed to understand the significance and natural history of these lesions.

An automated algorithm was developed for total retinal blood flow (TRBF) using 70-kHz spectral optical coherence tomography (OCT). The OCT was calibrated for the transformation from Doppler shift to speed based on a flow phantom. The TRBF scan pattern contained five repeated volume scans (2 x 2 mm) obtained in 3 s and centered on central retinal vessels in the optic disc. The TRBF was calculated using an en face Doppler technique. For each retinal vein, blood flow was measured at an optimal plane where the calculated flow was maximized. The TRBF was calculated by summing flow in all veins. The algorithm tracked vascular branching so that either root or branch veins are summed, but never both. The TRBF in five repeated volumes were averaged to reduce variation due to cardiac cycle pulsation. Finally, the TRBF was corrected for eye length variation. Twelve healthy eyes and 12 glaucomatous eyes were enrolled to test the algorithm. The TRBF was 45.4 ± 6.7 μl/min for healthy control and 34.7 ± 7.6 μl/min for glaucomatous participants (p-value = 0.01). The intravisit repeatability was 8.6% for healthy controls and 8.4% for glaucoma participants. The proposed automated method provided repeatable TRBF measurement.

The split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography algorithm was optimized on a spectral optical coherence tomography system using a flow phantom. The number of times the spectrum was split and the bandwidth of each split were adjusted to maximize the flow phantom decorrelation signal-to-noise ratio. The improvement in flow detection was then demonstrated with en face retinal angiograms. The optimized algorithm increased the detectable retinal microvascular flow and decreased the variability of the quantified vessel density in OCT retinal angiograms of healthy human subjects.

Retinal vascular diseases are important causes of vision loss. A detailed evaluation of the vascular abnormalities facilitates diagnosis and treatment in these diseases. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography using the highly efficient split-spectrum amplitude decorrelation angiography algorithm offers an alternative to conventional dye-based retinal angiography. OCT angiography has several advantages, including 3D visualization of retinal and choroidal circulations (including the choriocapillaris) and avoidance of dye injection-related complications. Results from six illustrative cases are reported. In diabetic retinopathy, OCT angiography can detect neovascularization and quantify ischemia. In age-related macular degeneration, choroidal neovascularization can be observed without the obscuration of details caused by dye leakage in conventional angiography. Choriocapillaris dysfunction can be detected in the nonneovascular form of the disease, furthering our understanding of pathogenesis. In choroideremia, OCT's ability to show choroidal and retinal vascular dysfunction separately may be valuable in predicting progression and assessing treatment response. OCT angiography shows promise as a noninvasive alternative to dye-based angiography for highly detailed, in vivo, 3D, quantitative evaluation of retinal vascular abnormalities.

Purpose: To measure the change in peripapillary retinal blood flow in response to hyperoxia by using optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography., Methods: One eye of each healthy human participants (six) was scanned with a commercial high-speed (70 kHz) spectral OCT. Scans were captured twice after 10-minute exposures to normal breathing (baseline) and hyperoxia. Blood flow was detected by the split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography (SSADA) algorithm. Peripapillary retinal blood flow index and vessel density were calculated from en face maximum projections of the retinal layers. The experiment was performed on 2 separate days for each participant. Coefficient of variation (CV) was used to measure within-day repeatability and between-day reproducibility. Paired t-tests were used to compare means of baseline and hyperoxic peripapillary retinal blood flow., Results: A decrease of 8.87% ± 3.09% (mean ± standard deviation) in flow index and 2.61% ± 1.50% in vessel density was observed under hyperoxia. The within-day repeatability CV of baseline measurements was 5.75% for flow index and 1.67% for vessel density. The between-day reproducibility CV for baseline flow index and vessel density was 11.1% and 1.14%, respectively. The between-day reproducibility of the hyperoxic response was 3.71% and 1.67% for flow index and vessel density, respectively., Conclusions: Optical coherence tomography angiography with SSADA was able to detect a decrease in peripapillary retinal blood flow in response to hyperoxia. The response was larger than the variability of baseline measurements. The magnitude of an individual's hyperoxic response was highly variable between days. Thus, reliable assessment may require averaging multiple measurements.

We propose methods to align interferograms affected by trigger jitter to a reference interferogram based on the information (amplitude/phase) at a fixed-pattern noise location to reduce residual fixed-pattern noise and improve the phase stability of swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) systems. One proposed method achieved this by introducing a wavenumber shift (k-shift) in the interferograms of interest and searching for the k-shift that minimized the fixed-pattern noise amplitude. The other method calculated the relative k-shift using the phase information at the residual fixed-pattern noise location. Repeating this wavenumber alignment procedure for all A-lines of interest produced fixed-pattern noise free and phase stable OCT images. A system incorporating these correction routines was used for human retina OCT and Doppler OCT imaging. The results from the two methods were compared, and it was found that the intensity-based method provided better results.

We demonstrate the proof of concept of a novel Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography contrast mechanism using gold nanorod contrast agents and a spectral fractionation processing technique. The methodology detects the spectral shift of the backscattered light from the nanorods by comparing the ratio between the short and long wavelength halves of the optical coherence tomography signal intensity. Spectral fractionation further divides the halves into sub-bands to improve spectral contrast and suppress speckle noise. Herein, we show that this technique can detect gold nanorods in intralipid tissue phantoms. Furthermore, cellular labeling by gold nanorods was demonstrated using retinal pigment epithelial cells in vitro.

Vibratory measurements of the structures of the ear are key to understanding much of the pathology in mouse models of hearing loss. Unfortunately the high-speed sampling required to interrogate the high end of the mouse hearing spectrum is beyond the reach of most optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems. To address this issue, we have developed an algorithm that enables phase-sensitive OCT measurements over the full range of the mouse hearing spectrum (4-90 kHz). The algorithm phase-locks the line-trigger to the acoustic stimulation and then uses interleaved sampling to reconstruct the signal with higher temporal sampling. The algorithm was evaluated by measuring the vibratory response of mouse tympanic membrane to a pure tone stimulus., (© 2011 Optical Society of America)

Human hearing loss often occurs as a result of damage or malformations to the functional soft tissues within the cochlea, but these changes are not appreciable with current medical imaging modalities. We sought to determine whether optical coherence tomography (OCT) could assess the soft tissue structures relevant to hearing using mouse models. We imaged excised cochleae with an altered tectorial membrane and during normal development. The soft tissue structures and expected anatomical variations were visible using OCT, and quantitative measurements confirmed the ability to detect critical changes relevant to hearing.