Ocular coherence tomography and diabetic eye disease

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a high-resolution, cross-sectional imaging technique that allows detailed assessment of retinal thickness and morphologic evaluation of the neurosensory retinal layers. OCT imaging has rapidly been integrated into diagnosis and management of diabetic macular edema (DME) in routine clinical practice and clinical trials. OCT findings correlate well with other evaluation techniques for DME. Although there is a moderate correlation between OCT measured retinal thickness and visual acuity, OCT cannot replace visual acuity because there is a high degree of variability. Recent improvements in OCT technology have led to widespread interest in the use of spectral domain OCT, which is faster and has higher resolution than time domain OCT. Future research in OCT imaging will likely result in improvements in image quality. The ability to combine OCT with other various diagnostic modalities will further improve the evaluation of DME in both clinical practice and trials.