Doppler optical coherence tomography.
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) has revolutionized ophthalmology. Since its introduction in the early 1990s it has continuously improved in terms of speed, resolution and sensitivity. The technique has also seen a variety of extensions aiming to assess functional aspects of the tissue in addition to morphology. One of these approaches is Doppler OCT (DOCT), which aims to visualize and quantify blood flow. Such extensions were already implemented in time domain systems, but have gained importance with the introduction of Fourier domain OCT. Nowadays phase-sensitive detection techniques are most widely used to extract blood velocity and blood flow from tissues. A common problem with the technique is that the Doppler angle is not known and several approaches have been realized to obtain absolute velocity and flow data from the retina. Additional studies are required to elucidate which of these techniques is most promising. In the recent years, however, several groups have shown that data can be obtained with high validity and reproducibility. In addition, several groups have published values for total retinal blood flow. Another promising application relates to non-invasive angiography. As compared to standard techniques such as fluorescein and indocyanine-green angiography the technique offers two major advantages: no dye is required and depth resolution is required is provided. As such Doppler OCT has the potential to improve our abilities to diagnose and monitor ocular vascular diseases.
Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Rainer A
RA
Leitgeb
Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
René M
RM
Werkmeister
Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Cedric
C
Blatter
Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: leopold.schmetterer@meduniwien.ac.at.
Leopold
L
Schmetterer
D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006801:Humans; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000502:physiology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*
Angiography; Blood flow; Doppler effect; Optical Coherence Tomography; Perfusion; Retinal vasculature