Visualization and quantization of 3D retinal vessels in OCTA images

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is crucial for analyzing ophthalmic diseases.
• Current 2D OCTA vessel segmentation is limited, overlooking rich 3D spatial information.
• Manual 3D vessel labeling is challenging and time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a 3D vessel segmentation and reconstruction method for OCTA images utilizing only 2D vessel labels.
• To enable accurate 3D analysis of retinal vasculature despite manual labeling difficulties.
• To enhance the clinical utility of OCTA for ophthalmic disease monitoring.

Main Methods:

• A 3D vessel segmentation was implemented within OCTA volumes using a specialized 2D segmentation model.
• 3D vessel parameters were calculated from segmentation results.
• 3D reconstruction of retinal vasculature was performed for visualization and analysis.

Main Results:

• The 3D vessel parameters demonstrated higher sensitivity to vascular alterations than 2D parameters on the OCTA-500 dataset.
• 3D vessel reconstruction enabled visualization across different retinal layers.
• The method facilitates the determination of artery-vein spatial relationships.

Conclusions:

• The proposed 3D OCTA analysis method provides more sensitive detection of vascular changes in ophthalmic diseases.
• 3D reconstruction aids in monitoring disease progression and understanding vascular anatomy.
• This approach enhances the clinical value of OCTA for diagnosis and research.