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Updated: Mar 9, 2026
Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography of Retinal Circulation
Published on: September 18, 2012
TOWARD QUANTITATIVE OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY: Visualizing Blood Flow Speeds in Ocular Pathology Using
Stefan B Ploner1, Eric M Moult, WooJhon Choi
1*Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; †Department of Computer Science, Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany; ‡New England Eye Center, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts; §Department of Ophthalmology, Federal University of São Paulo, School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil; ¶Praevium Research Inc, Santa Barbara, California; **Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida; and ††Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT), Erlangen, Germany.
Researchers developed a new color display method using variable interscan time analysis (VISTA) to visualize relative blood flow speed in the eye. This technique aids in detecting abnormal blood flow in various ocular diseases.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmic imaging
- Medical diagnostics
- Biophotonics
Background:
- Current optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) systems offer limited insights into blood flow speed.
- Assessing blood flow dynamics is crucial for diagnosing and monitoring various ocular conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a novel method for visualizing relative blood flow speed using OCTA.
- To map the variable interscan time analysis (VISTA) algorithm to a color display for enhanced visualization.
Main Methods:
- Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) was performed using a swept source OCT system with a 5 repeated B-scan protocol.
- Variable interscan time analysis (VISTA) was applied to B-scan pairs with 1.5 ms and 3.0 ms interscan times.
- VISTA data were mapped to a color space to represent relative blood flow speed.
Main Results:
- The VISTA visualization algorithm was evaluated in normal eyes and eyes with diabetic retinopathy, geographic atrophy, and age-related macular degeneration.
- All evaluated eyes exhibited variations in blood flow speed.
- Eyes with pathologies demonstrated abnormal blood flow speeds compared to healthy controls.
Conclusions:
- A novel method for mapping VISTA to a color display was successfully developed, enabling visualization of relative blood flow speeds.
- The VISTA color display proved useful in a small case series for visualizing blood flow in diverse ocular diseases.
- This technique represents a step towards achieving quantitative OCTA.
