Validation of a Novel Automated Algorithm to Measure Drusen Volume and Area Using Swept Source Optical Coherence
Xiaoshuang Jiang1,2, Mengxi Shen1, Liang Wang1
1Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to validate a novel automated swept source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) algorithm to measure elevations of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in eyes with nonexudative age-related macular degeneration (neAMD).
Methods:
Patients with drusen were enrolled in a prospective optical coherence tomography (OCT) study and underwent both spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) and SS-OCTA imaging at the same visit using the 6 × 6 mm scan patterns. The RPE elevation measurements (square root area and cube root volume) from the SS-OCTA algorithm were compared with the automated validated SD-OCT algorithm on the instrument. Standard deviations of drusen measurements from four repeated scans of another separate set were also calculated to evaluate the reproducibility of the SS-OCTA algorithm.
Results:
A total of 53 eyes from 28 patients were scanned on both instruments. A very strong correlation was found between the measurements from the two algorithms (all r > 0.95), although the measurements of the drusen area and volume were all larger from the SS-OCTA instrument. The reproducibility of the new SS-OCTA algorithm was analyzed using a sample of 66 eyes from 43 patients. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was greater than 99% from different macular regions for both the square root area and cube root volume measurements.
Conclusions:
A novel automated SS-OCTA algorithm for the quantitative assessment of drusen was validated against the SD-OCT algorithm and was shown to be highly reproducible.
Translational Relevance:
This novel SS-OCTA algorithm provides a strategy to measure the area and volume of drusen to assess disease progression in neAMD.
