Comparison of choroidal thickness measured by two methods.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Choroidal thickness (CT) measurement is crucial for understanding ocular health, particularly in myopia.
• Accurate and reproducible CT assessment is essential for clinical research and diagnosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the agreement and reproducibility of choroidal thickness measurements obtained using Heidelberg Eye Explore software and Image J software.
• To evaluate the suitability of these methods for analyzing CT in healthy myopic and emmetropic individuals.

Main Methods:

• Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) images of the foveal and parafoveal regions were acquired from 36 participants.
• Choroidal thickness was manually measured using both Heidelberg Eye Explore software and Image J software.
• Bland-Altmann analysis was employed to assess the agreement and reproducibility between the two measurement methods.

Main Results:

• Image J software yielded a lower repeatability coefficient (27.3525) compared to Heidelberg Eye Explore software (39.9186).
• Bland-Altmann analysis indicated significant variations in measurements, with wide limits of agreement (-18.437–63.949µm).

Conclusions:

• Image J software exhibited better repeatability and agreement for choroidal thickness measurement than Heidelberg Eye Explore software.
• Image J software is recommended for future choroidal thickness studies, particularly in the Chinese population.