Binarization is a critical step in analysis of retinal optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images, but the repeatability of metrics produced from various binarization methods has not been fully assessed. This study set out to examine the repeatability of OCTA quantification metrics produced using different binarization thresholding methods, all of which have been applied in previous studies, across multiple devices and plexuses. Successive 3 × 3 mm foveal OCTA images of 13 healthy eyes were obtained on three different devices. For each image, contrast adjustments, 3 image processing techniques (linear registration, histogram normalization, and contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization), and 11 binarization thresholding methods were independently applied. Vessel area density (VAD) and vessel length were calculated for retinal vascular images. Choriocapillaris (CC) images were quantified for VAD and flow deficit metrics. Repeatability, measured using the intra-class correlation coefficient, was inconsistent and generally not high (ICC < 0.8) across binarization thresholds, devices, and plexuses. In retinal vascular images, local thresholds tended to incorrectly binarize the foveal avascular zone as white (i.e., wrongly indicating flow). No image processing technique analyzed consistently resulted in highly repeatable metrics. Across contrast changes, retinal vascular images showed the lowest repeatability and CC images showed the highest.
Citation: Braun PX, Mehta N, Gendelman I, et al. Global analysis of macular choriocapillaris perfusion in dry agerelated macular degeneration using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2019;60:4985-4990. https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.19-27861 PURPOSE. Swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) was used to investigate if the clinical stage of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was correlated with global and regional macular choriocapillaris (CC) perfusion.
METHODS.In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, 6 3 6-mm SS-OCTA images from eyes with early, intermediate, and advanced dry AMD (56 eyes, 41 patients) were analyzed using algorithms described in the literature to assess regional flow deficit percentage (FD%) and average flow deficit size. Regions were defined by concentric areas centered on the fovea: a 1mm-diameter area, 3-mm-diameter ring, 5-mm-diameter area, 5-mm-diameter ring, and 6 3 6mm whole image. Data were modeled using the generalized estimating equations approach.RESULTS. The relationship between age and CC FD% and average flow deficit size was statistically significant (P 0.05) in all regions of analysis by linear modeling. The relationship between dry AMD stage and FD% was statistically significant by linear modeling in the 5-mm ring, and between dry AMD stage and average flow deficit size in the 3-mm ring, 5-mm area, 5mm ring, and 6 3 6-mm whole image.CONCLUSIONS. Linear modeling suggests a statistically significant relationship between dry AMD stage and CC perfusion, most prominent in the more peripheral regions of the macula.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.