Abstract
Purpose :
Information on the structure and direction of the scleral collagen and retinal nerves might be helpful in the diagnosis and monitoring of glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and high myopia. In this pilot study, polarization sensitive-OCT (PS-OCT) is used to image the orientation and birefringence of these fiber structures in the eye in these patient groups.
Methods :
A depth-multiplexed fiber-based PS-OCT system will be used to extract quantitative and local information on optic axis, birefringence, and depolarization from the retina and peripapillary sclera. The setup contains a swept-source laser centered at 1060 nm with a repetition rate of 200 kHz. Data of glaucoma, wAMD and high myopia patients will be obtained.
Results :
By segmentation of the RNFL, Henle’s fiber layer and the first 180 µm of sclera, orientation en face images of the different structures can be created (Fig. 1). As the orientation of the retinal nerves is known to be radially from the optic nerve head, absolute orientations of Henle’s fiber layer and the sclera could be extracted, as shown in Fig 1. d) and f). The first layer of sclera collagen fibers is oriented approximately parallel to the retinal nerves. A ring structure can be recognized around the optic nerve head, where the orientation of the collagen fibers is circular.
Conclusions :
PS-OCT has been used to successfully extract optic axis orientation of the retinal nerves, Henle’s fiber layer and the sclera locally in 3D in vivo. The PS-OCT system will be used to detect pathological changes in fiber structures associated with disease. PS-OCT imaging of myopia, wAMD and glaucoma can improve our understanding of retinal biomechanics and structural alterations in different disease stages.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.