Open AccessAnalysis of longitudinal sections of retinal vessels using Doppler OCT
Author(s) -
Sylvia Desissaire,
Florian Schwarzhans,
Matthias Salas,
Andreas Wartak,
Georg Fischer,
Clemens Vass,
Michael Pircher,
Christoph K. Hitzenberger
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
biomedical optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.362
H-Index - 86
ISSN - 2156-7085
DOI - 10.1364/boe.385938
Subject(s) - doppler effect , retinal , optics , blood flow , optical coherence tomography , biomedical engineering , physics , medicine , ophthalmology , radiology , astronomy
We present a new method for imaging retinal vessels that provides both structural and hemodynamic information. Our technique is based on a single beam OCT system with an integrated retinal tracker that enables recording of arbitrary scan patterns. We record longitudinal sections along the traces of retinal vessels. The tracker function enables the acquisition of multiple longitudinal sections along the same trace to provide high-quality averaged OCT scans as well as temporal changes of flow dynamics. The vessel walls are clearly identified as narrow, bright lines from which the vessel diameter can be retrieved as a function of position along the vessel. Furthermore, the Doppler angle can be obtained at each position along the vessel trace, enabling measurement of absolute blood flow by Doppler OCT analysis. The method is demonstrated in flow phantoms and in-vivo on retinal vessel bifurcations in healthy volunteers. In 7 of 9 imaged bifurcations, measured in- and outflow deviate by less than 11%, demonstrating the consistency of the method.