title: Value of optical coherence tomography for anterior segment surgery.
abstract: Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) is an important new noncontact imaging technology that uses a 1310 nm super luminescent diode. It can be used to assess anterior chamber biometry, corneal thickness, lens thickness, and angle configuration; to visualize pathological processes; to evaluate postsurgical anatomy and posttraumatic eyes; and to image phakic intraocular lenses and intracorneal ring segments. Because it is a noncontact technique, it can also be used intraoperatively, which could be useful during trabeculectomy and after deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty to detect abnormalities in the cornea and interface. A disadvantage of AS-OCT is its inability to penetrate the iris pigment epithelium, which makes it impossible to evaluate the structures behind the iris. The most frequently used devices are time-domain AS-OCT, but new Fourier-domain OCT devices, which have faster image acquisition and higher resolution, are currently under investigation.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Muriël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doors
authors.forename: Tos T J M
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Berendschot
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Brabander
authors.forename: Carroll A B
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Webers
authors.forename: Rudy M M A
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Nuijts
mesh_terms: D000869:Anterior Eye Segment / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence