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Updated: Jun 2, 2026
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Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography of Retinal Circulation
Published on: September 18, 2012
Noninvasive evaluation of retinal leakage using optical coherence tomography
Rui Bernardes1, Torcato Santos, Pedro Serranho
1Center of New Technologies for Medicine, Association for Innovation and Biomedical Research on Light and Image (AIBILI), Coimbra, Portugal. rcb@aibilli.pt
Summary
This study links blood-retinal barrier (BRB) leakage to optical property changes in the retina using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Findings show OCT can quantify BRB status in retinal diseases.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Biomedical Optics
- Retinal Imaging
Background:
- The blood-retinal barrier (BRB) is crucial for retinal health.
- Alterations in BRB function are hallmarks of various retinal diseases.
- Noninvasive imaging techniques are needed to assess BRB integrity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To correlate fluorescein leakage-based BRB status with optical property changes measured by OCT.
- To quantify and localize these changes within the retina.
- To explore OCT's potential for assessing BRB status in retinal diseases.
Main Methods:
- Employed a retinal leakage analyzer to map BRB integrity (intact vs. disrupted).
- Utilized optical coherence tomography (OCT) to measure refractive index variations.
- Applied a novel quantitative analysis of OCT data.
Main Results:
- Statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) in OCT data distribution between intact and disrupted BRB regions were observed.
- Quantified differences in optical properties correlated with BRB status.
- Localized these optical changes to specific retinal structural layers.
Conclusions:
- A novel OCT data analysis method can quantify extracellular compartment differences in retinal disease.
- OCT provides indirect, quantitative information about BRB status.
- This approach offers a noninvasive tool for evaluating BRB integrity in ocular pathologies.
