OCT angiography continues to develop

“Software updates have drastically improved the quality of OCT angiography (OCT-A) imaging since they were first developed,” said Professor Giovanni Staurenghi, Milan University Eye Clinic, Milan, Italy. “However, not all instruments are created equal. There are significant differences regarding what can be seen in each layer of the retina.” Prof Staurenghi addressed delegates at the 19th Annual EURETINA Congress in Paris with his presentation, “Where do we go with OCT-A?” Although OCT-A software improves approximately every three months, differences remain. These can be large differences, such as which scan technique is employed: spectral domain vs swept source; medium differences, like which segmentation layers are selected by the scan; or smaller differences, such as the distance between B-scans (from 5.7 to 12.9μm). Each of these can have an impact on the quality and usefulness of the resulting images. The user can, however, experiment with settings such as brightness and contrast to obtain improved detail. Precise imaging can, for example, be used to identify amelanotic melanomas, potentially even better than with ICGA imaging. “Although we still have some difficulties to work out, OCT-A is a fantastic instrument, and it should be added to our armamentarium for retinal disease management,” he concluded.

Tags: optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A)