Innovative Macula Capillaries Plexuses Visualization with OCTA B-Scan Graph Representation: Transforming OCTA B-Scan...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is crucial for visualizing retinal vasculature.
• Assessing macular vascular integrity is vital for diagnosing various eye diseases.
• Current methods may lack detailed quantitative analysis of vascular structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To transform optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) scans into novel OCTA graphs.
• To utilize these OCTA graphs as biomarkers for macular vasculature.
• To assess the integrity of the superficial vascular complex (SVC) and deep vascular complex (DVC) in the macula.

Main Methods:

• Included 90 healthy subjects and 39 with ocular abnormalities (diabetic retinopathy, AMD, CNV).
• Generated OCTA 5µm macular coronal views (MCVs), followed by blood vessel segmentation and skeletonization.
• Computed blood vessel density, skeleton, and tortuosity indices, plotting graphs against axial axes.

Main Results:

• Successfully transformed OCTA B-scans into three novel OCTA graphs.
• OCTA graphs serve as new biomarkers for SVC and DVC integrity.
• Statistically significant differences (p<0.001) were found between normal and abnormal subjects.

Conclusions:

• Novel OCTA graphs provide unique representations of macular SVC and DVC.
• These OCTA graphs show potential for aiding physicians in eye health diagnosis.
• Further research is needed to refine OCTA graph characteristics and clinical utility.