BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
To study the reproducibility of tear meniscus measurement with high-speed high-resolution Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT).
PATIENTS AND METHODS
Twenty normal participants were enrolled in this prospective study. The lower tear meniscus in the right eye of each subject was imaged by vertical scans centered on the inferior cornea and the lower eyelid using an FD-OCT system (RTVue; Optovue, Inc., Fremont, CA) with a corneal adaptor. The system performs 26,000 axial scans per second and has a 5-micron axial resolution. Each subject was examined at two visits 30 to 60 days apart. Each eye was scanned twice on each visit. The scans were taken 2 seconds after a blink. The lower meniscus height, depth, and cornea–meniscus angle were measured with a computer caliper. The cross-sectional area was calculated using a two-triangle approximation.
RESULTS
The between-visits coefficient of variation was 17.5%, 18.0%, 35.5%, and 12.2% for meniscus height, depth, area, and angle, respectively. The intraclass correlations for these parameters were 0.605, 0.558, 0.567, and 0.367, respectively.
CONCLUSION
FD-OCT measures lower tear meniscus dimensions and area with higher between-visits reproducibility than previous OCT instruments. FD-OCT may be a useful way to measure dry eye severity and treatment effectiveness.
[Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging 2009;40:442-447.]
AUTHORS
From the Doheny Eye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology (SZ, YL, AT-HL, PL, MT, SCY, DH), University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; the Department of Cornea & Refractive Surgery Center (SZ), State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; and the College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science (PL), Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Accepted for publication August 31, 2008.
Supported by NIH grants R01 EY018184, P30 EY03040, China Scholarship grant 2007U25183, a grant from Johnson & Johnson Vistakon, Inc., a grant from Optovue, Inc., and a grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc.
Drs. Li, Tang, and Huang receive grant support and patent royalties from Optovue, Inc. Dr. Huang also has stock options in Optovue, Inc. Drs. Zhou, Lu, Liu, and Yiu have no financial or proprietary interest in the materials presented herein.
Address correspondence to David Huang, MD, PhD, 1450 San Pablo Street, DEI 5702, Los Angeles, CA 90033.
doi: 10.3928/15428877-20090901-01
