Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: The SLO is a high-resolution alternative to fundus photography, while the OCT system provides cross-sectional imaging of the vitreoretinal and retinal areas. We developed a new imaging device that combines simultaneously OCT and SLO images in a single instrument. We investigated the efficacy of our 3-dimensional (3-D) OCT/SLO system for patients with ARM. Methods: Fifty eyes (30 patients) with ARM (7 eyes with only drusen, 32 eyes with type 1 ARM, and 11 eyes with type 2 ARM), 4 eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, and 3 eyes with retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) were included. Unlike a conventional SLO, the combined device can operate in a so-called "transversal," "en-face," or "C-scan," and yields OCT images originating at the same axes and plane as the retina. The C-scan OCT images are thin cross sections of retinal and subretinal structures at a chosen depth. The system also scans laterally along a line to the retina to produce cross-sectional longitudinal OCT images as the Humphrey's system. Results: This new device precisely demonstrated the structures of the retinal layers and the pathologies in the retina, especially in patients with drusen, polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, RAP, and type 1 and type 2 of age-related macular degeneration. In some cases, clear separation between the outer layers of rod and cone layer and retinal pigment epithelium layer was detected. Conclusions: This new technology for the first time enabled us to observe vitreoretinal structures in 3-D fashion. This technique is useful to analyze the retina and other ocular structures in a manner similar to how computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are used for other organs in the human body.
Keywords: imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, S • age-related macular degeneration • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: sys