title: RefMoB, a Reflectivity Feature Model-Based Automated Method for Measuring Four Outer Retinal Hyperreflective Bands in Optical Coherence Tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To validate a model-driven method (RefMoB) of automatically describing the four outer retinal hyperreflective bands revealed by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT), for comparison with histology of normal macula; to report thickness and position of bands, particularly band 2 (ellipsoid zone [EZ], commonly called IS/OS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Foveal and superior perifoveal scans of seven SDOCT volumes of five individuals aged 28 to 69 years with healthy maculas were used (seven eyes for validation, five eyes for measurement). RefMoB determines band thickness and position by a multistage procedure that models reflectivities as a summation of Gaussians. Band thickness and positions were compared with those obtained by manual evaluators for the same scans, and compared with an independent published histological dataset.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Agreement among manual evaluators was moderate. Relative to manual evaluation, RefMoB reported reduced thickness and vertical shifts in band positions in a band-specific manner for both simulated and empirical data. In foveal and perifoveal scans, band 1 was thick relative to the anatomical external limiting membrane, band 2 aligned with the outer one-third of the anatomical IS ellipsoid, and band 3 (IZ, interdigitation of retinal pigment epithelium and photoreceptors) was cleanly delineated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RefMoB is suitable for automatic description of the location and thickness of the four outer retinal hyperreflective bands. Initial results suggest that band 2 aligns with the outer ellipsoid, thus supporting its recent designation as EZ. Automated and objective delineation of band 3 will help investigations of structural biomarkers of dark-adaptation changes in aging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer and Information Sciences University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
authors.forename: Douglas H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
authors.forename: Pooja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Godara
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
authors.forename: Carrie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huisingh
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States 4Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McGwin
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Owsley
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States 5Vision Science Graduate Program, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
authors.forename: Katie M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Litts
authors.affiliation: Vitreous Retina Macula Consultants of New York, New York, New York, United States.
authors.forename: Richard F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Spaide
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer and Information Sciences University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States 3Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
authors.forename: Kenneth R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Sloan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
authors.forename: Christine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Curcio
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D055214:Retinal Photoreceptor Cell Outer Segment; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000166:cytology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*