Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026
Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography of Retinal Circulation
Published on: September 18, 2012
Segmental reproducibility of retinal blood flow velocity measurements using retinal function imager
Jay Chhablani1, Dirk-Uwe Bartsch, Lingyun Cheng
1Jacobs Retina Center at Shiley Eye Center, University of California, San Diego, 9415 Campus Point Drive, MC 0946, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0946, USA.
Background:
To evaluate the reproducibility of blood flow velocity measurements of individual retinal blood vessel segments using retinal function imager (RFI).
Methods:
Eighteen eyes of 15 healthy subjects were enrolled prospectively at three centers. All subjects underwent RFI imaging in two separate sessions 15 min apart by a single experienced photographer at each center. An average of five to seven serial RFI images were obtained. All images were transferred electronically to one center, and were analyzed by a single observer. Multiple blood vessel segments (each shorter than 100 μm) were co-localized on first and second session images taken at different times of the same fundus using built-in software. Velocities of corresponding segments were determined, and then the inter-session reproducibility of flow velocity was assessed by the concordance correlation co-efficient (CCC), coefficient of reproducibility (CR), and coefficient of variance (CV).
Results:
Inter-session CCC for flow velocity was 0.97 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.966 to 0.9797). The CR was 1.49 mm/sec (95% CI, 1.39 to 1.59 mm/sec), and CV was 10.9%. The average arterial blood flow velocity was 3.16 mm/sec, and average venous blood flow velocity was 3.15 mm/sec. The CR for arterial and venous blood flow velocity was 1.61 mm/sec and 1.27 mm/sec respectively.
Conclusion:
RFI provides reproducible measurements for retinal blood flow velocity for individual blood vessel segments, with 10.9% variability.
