Retinal vessel structure measurement using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging
• Retinal Imaging

Background:

• Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) is an advanced imaging technique.
• Accurate measurement of retinal vessel dimensions is crucial for diagnosing and monitoring various ocular diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability and validity of SD-OCT for measuring retinal vessel lumen diameters and wall thicknesses.
• To assess the reproducibility of these measurements.

Main Methods:

• SD-OCT was utilized to analyze the peripapillary region in 40 eyes from 20 subjects.
• Retinal vessel lumen diameters and wall thicknesses (inner and outer) were quantified using intensity graphs.

Main Results:

• Mean arterial and venous luminal diameters were 95.1±16.1 μm and 132.6±17.8 μm, respectively.
• Significant differences were observed in inner and outer wall thicknesses for both arteries and veins (P<0.01).
• Intra- and interobserver intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for lumen and wall thickness measurements were generally high (>0.85), with outer wall thickness showing the lowest reproducibility.

Conclusions:

• SD-OCT, aided by intensity graphs, offers objective vessel boundary detection.
• Measurements of luminal diameters and wall thicknesses using SD-OCT demonstrate good overall reproducibility.
• Caution is advised when relying solely on outer wall thickness measurements due to lower reproducibility compared to inner wall measurements.