ESCRS - PP14.01 - Clinical Biomechanical Assessment Using High-Resolution Oct Elastography Immediately And At One Month After Corneal Cross-Linking

Clinical Biomechanical Assessment Using High-Resolution Oct Elastography Immediately And At One Month After Corneal Cross-Linking

Published 2023 - 41st Congress of the ESCRS

Reference: PP14.01 | DOI: 10.82333/8fpd-g914

Authors: Emilio A. Torres-Netto* 1 , Matteo Frigelli 2 , M. Enes Aydemir 3 , Nanji Lu 4 , Nikki Hafezi 4 , Farhad Hafezi 1 , Sabine Kling 5

1ELZA Institute & University of Zurich,Dietikon/Zurich,Switzerland, 22ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research,University of Bern,Bern,Switzerland, 3ELZA Institute,Dietikon/Zurich,Switzerland, 4ELZA Institute,Zurich,Switzerland, 5OPTIC Team, Computer Vision Laboratory,ETH Zurich,Zurich,Switzerland

 Optical coherence elastography (OCE) is a new technology that aims at detecting localized biomechanical changes using local tissue deformation and image capture via OCT. Here, we used OCE based on ambient pressure modulation to assses the immediate and one-month biomechanical response following corneal cross-linking (CXL).

ELZA Institute, Dietikon/Zurich, Switzerland; OPTIC team, Computer Vision Laboratory, ETH Zurich; University of Zurich, CABMM.

A total of 16 eyes of 16 patients with progressive keratoconus (KC) who underwent CXL were measured with OCE, before, immediately after CXL and at 1-month after CXL. During the measurement, the participant wore a set of customized swimming goggles connected to an external pressure modulation unit. A total of 128 subsequent repetitive B-scans were recorded during ~2.6s. After 0.55s, the pressure within the goggle was abruptly decreased by -10mmHg. The resulting corneal deformation was quantified by applying a phase-based displacement and strain computation approach.

With respect to the central cornea, the anterior cornea tended to move stronger forward immediately post CXL when compared to 1 month post CXL (29±39nm versus -64±35nm, p=0.095). When compared to the untreated KC cornea (84±37nm), CXL induced a significant reduction (p=0.009) in anterior corneal displacement. Posterior corneal strains tended to be lower, both immediately post-CXL (0.18±0.50‰, p=0.074) and at 1-month post-CXL (0.55±0.81‰, p=0.051), compared to the untreated KC cornea (1.80±0.77‰). No difference was found between eyes measured immediately after CXL and at 1 month after CXL.

OCT-Elastography is capable of clinically differentiating local changes in human corneas with keratoconus following corneal cross-linking. This technology may open new horizons for its use in monitoring the progression of corneal ectasia and to determine the success of corneal cross-linking.