Repeatability and Reproducibility of Retinal Blood Flow Measurement Using a Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography Flowmeter in Healthy Subjects

Abstract

PURPOSE. To evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of retinal blood flow (RBF) measurements in humans by using new auto-alignment and measurement software in a commercially available Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) system. METHODS.The DOCT flowmeter assessed the intrasession repeatability and the intersession and interobserver reproducibility of the RBF measurements. For intrasession repeatability, the coefficients of variation (CVs) of five repeated RBF measurements were calculated at the retinal arteries and veins in 20 normal eyes of 20 healthy volunteers. For intersession reproducibility, two sets of three measurements obtained by one observer on 2 different days were compared. For interobserver reproducibility, two sets of three measurements obtained by two observers on the same day were compared. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) also were used to evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility. The relevance of the DOCT flowmeter and laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) also was assessed.RESULTS. Regarding intrasession repeatability, the ICC of the RBF exceeded 0.90 in arterioles and venules (ICC: 0.994 and 0.970, respectively). The CVs of the RBF in the arterioles and venules were 6.0% 6 3.4% and 8.8% 6 5.1%, respectively. The intersession and interobserver RBF values had high reproducibility in the arterioles (ICC: 0.980 and 0.993, respectively) and venules (ICC: 0.982 and 0.986, respectively). The RBF measured with the DOCT flowmeter was correlated strongly with LDV in the arterioles (r ¼ 0.76; P < 0.001).CONCLUSIONS. The DOCT flowmeter had good reproducibility in the arterioles and venules and precisely measured the RBF as compared to the LDV in the arterioles.

Retinal blood flow reduction after panretinal photocoagulation in Type 2 diabetes mellitus: Doppler optical coherence tomography flowmeter pilot study

“…Retinal blood flow was measured according to a previously described method. [ 10 , 11 ] As shown in Fig 1 , Before BF imaging, a single color fundus image centered at optic disc was captured then region of interest of retinal vessel which is typically one disc diameter away from center of the optic disc was manually chosen. Scan location was also set in this procedure to make sure that it is almost perpendicular to the blood vessel.…”

“…We confirmed that the DOCT flowmeter enabled accurate and physician-friendly measurement of segmental and sum of the segmental RBFs (SRBF) without any specific skills. [ 10 , 11 ] The goal of this study was to investigate the changes in segmental RBF and SRBF during PRP in poorly controlled PDR patients using the DOCT flowmeter.…”

Blood flow rate estimation in optic disc capillaries and vessels using Doppler optical coherence tomography with 3D fast phase unwrapping

“…They relate the results from a specific diagnostic technique or even a specific type of a device to the established norms and pathology classifications. However, only a few papers exist reporting volumetric blood flow values measured with OCT techniques in a limited number of cases [15] [31][32][33][34][35]. Therefore, to answer the first question we have performed two tests, which do not require comparisons with established norms, yet show the reliability of the calculated volumetric flow rate values.…”

Longitudinal Changes in Retinal Blood Flow in a Feline Retinal Vein Occlusion Model as Measured by Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography and Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

“…14 The dynamic changes around the induction of occlusion can be demonstrated using the experimental animal models of RVO induced by laser photocoagulation (PC) on a venule. 8,15,16 Recently, technological devices for measuring RBF have been developed so that it is possible to measure the absolute value of RBF by Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) flowmeter 10,[17][18][19] and noninvasively evaluate the detailed microvascular formations by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). 13,20 In the present study, we investigated the longitudinal changes in RBF in terms of the functional and microvascular formation changes simultaneously with the structural changes using DOCT and OCTA in a PC-induced feline RVO model.…”