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Updated: Mar 20, 2026
Integrated Photoacoustic Ophthalmoscopy and Spectral-domain Optical Coherence Tomography
Published on: January 15, 2013
SPECTRAL DOMAIN-OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY IMAGE CONTRAST AND BACKGROUND COLOR SETTINGS INFLUENCE IDENTIFICATION OF
Camille V Palma1, Ruchita Amin, Wolfgang Huf
1*Department of Ophthalmology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois; †Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; ‡Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; and §Department of Ophthalmology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland.
Purpose:
To evaluate image contrast and color setting on assessment of retinal structures and morphology in spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.
Methods:
Two hundred and forty-eight Spectralis spectral-domain optical coherence tomography B-scans of 62 patients were analyzed by 4 readers. B-scans were extracted in 4 settings: W + N = white background with black image at normal contrast 9; W + H = white background with black image at maximum contrast 16; B + N = black background with white image at normal contrast 12; B + H = black background with white image at maximum contrast 16. Readers analyzed the images to identify morphologic features. Interreader correlation was calculated. Differences between Fleiss-kappa correlation coefficients were examined using bootstrap method. Any setting with significantly higher correlation coefficient was deemed superior for evaluating specific features.
Results:
Correlation coefficients differed among settings. No single setting was superior for all respective spectral-domain optical coherence tomography parameters (P = 0.3773). Some variables showed no differences among settings. Hard exudates and subretinal fluid were best seen with B + H (κ = 0.46, P = 0.0237 and κ = 0.78, P = 0.002). Microaneurysms were best seen with W + N (κ = 0.56, P = 0.025). Vitreomacular interface, enhanced transmission signal, and epiretinal membrane were best identified using all color/contrast settings together (κ = 0.44, P = 0.042, κ = 0.57, P = 0.01, and κ = 0.62, P ≤ 0.0001).
Conclusion:
Contrast and background affect the evaluation of retinal structures on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography images. No single setting was superior for all features, though certain changes were best seen with specific settings.
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