Abstract
Purpose :
To determine the difference in Brillouin shifts between keratoconus patients, post-LASIK patients, and normal control patients.
Methods :
Patients with keratoconus, post-LASIK patients, and normal control patients underwent imaging with Brillouin microscopy. The Brillouin shift was measured at multiple different points within the central 8mm of the cornea. Brillouin maps were then constructed for each cornea imaged using the data obtained. Comparisons between keratoconus and normal corneas, post-LASIK and normal corneas, and keratoconus and post-LASIK corneas were made.
Results :
In the central 2mm, normal control corneas had a Brillouin shift of 5.7 GHz, which was higher than that of keratoconus corneas (5.6 GHz, p=0.001) and post-LASIK corneas (5.68 GHz, p=0.001). In addition, keratoconus corneas had lower Brillouin shifts than post-LASIK corneas (p=0.005). In keratoconus corneas, the difference in Brillouin shifts between the region of the cone and the peripheral “normal” regions was 60 MHz. In post-LASIK corneas, the difference in Brillouin shifts between the region of the ablation zone and the peripheral unaltered regions was 40 MHz. In normal control corneas, the difference in Brillouin shifts between the central 2mm and the peripheral cornea was less than 20 MHz.
Conclusions :
Brillouin microscopy can effectively distinguish between keratoconus corneas, post-LASIK corneas, and normal control corneas.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.