Foreword
Volumetric 3D optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of the eye has
revolutionized diagnosis and management of patients with ophthalmic diseases.
OCT was introduced in the 1980s with first biomedical OCT imaging applications
appearing in the 1990s. The first broadly available ophthalmic OCT system—Zeiss
Stratus—was introduced in 2002 and offered 2D “depth” imaging of the retina. As
the technology developed, true 3D volumetric retinal scanners began to appear
around 2008 with a number of manufacturers offering ophthalmic 3D-OCT imaging
devices. Over the years, many variants of retinal OCT were introduced, starting
with primarily 2D time-domain OCT technology capable of acquiring 400 axial
scans (A-scans) per second, followed by spectral-domain OCT offering 50 times
faster image acquisition with 27,000 A-scans/s, swept-source OCT (100,000
A-scans/s), Doppler OCT, adaptive-optics OCT, etc. Soon after, clinical utilization
of the OCT for imaging the retinal layers and the optic nerve head became common
and other ophthalmic applications emerged including OCT imaging of the choroid,
optic disk, retinal vasculature, and other parts of the eye anatomy. OCT is
increasingly used to image vascular flow, as well as eye function including
anatomy-derived visual function. Consequently, OCT imaging is employed for
diagnostic and treatment-guidance purposes in many diseases including age-related
macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, macular hole, papilledema, retinal
vein occlusion, glaucoma, intraretinal tumors, etc.
Quantitative ophthalmic OCT image analysis has trailed the introduction of
retinal OCT scanners with only a minimal delay. The experience with volumetric
biomedical image analysis, which was developed in radiologic, cardiologic, and/or
neuroscience applications over several decades, and the associated expertise of
medical imaging researchers allowed rapid translation of this knowledge to ophthalmic OCT image analysis. The transition from primarily 2D retinal imaging
using fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, and other 2D approaches that
were mostly qualitative in clinical care to quantitative 3D analyses was arguably the
fastest among all areas of clinical and translational medicine.
v
Volumetric 3D optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of the eye has
revolutionized diagnosis and management of patients with ophthalmic diseases.
OCT was introduced in the 1980s with first biomedical OCT imaging applications
appearing in the 1990s. The first broadly available ophthalmic OCT system—Zeiss
Stratus—was introduced in 2002 and offered 2D “depth” imaging of the retina. As
the technology developed, true 3D volumetric retinal scanners began to appear
around 2008 with a number of manufacturers offering ophthalmic 3D-OCT imaging
devices. Over the years, many variants of retinal OCT were introduced, starting
with primarily 2D time-domain OCT technology capable of acquiring 400 axial
scans (A-scans) per second, followed by spectral-domain OCT offering 50 times
faster image acquisition with 27,000 A-scans/s, swept-source OCT (100,000
A-scans/s), Doppler OCT, adaptive-optics OCT, etc. Soon after, clinical utilization
of the OCT for imaging the retinal layers and the optic nerve head became common
and other ophthalmic applications emerged including OCT imaging of the choroid,
optic disk, retinal vasculature, and other parts of the eye anatomy. OCT is
increasingly used to image vascular flow, as well as eye function including
anatomy-derived visual function. Consequently, OCT imaging is employed for
diagnostic and treatment-guidance purposes in many diseases including age-related
macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, macular hole, papilledema, retinal
vein occlusion, glaucoma, intraretinal tumors, etc.
Quantitative ophthalmic OCT image analysis has trailed the introduction of
retinal OCT scanners with only a minimal delay. The experience with volumetric
biomedical image analysis, which was developed in radiologic, cardiologic, and/or
neuroscience applications over several decades, and the associated expertise of
medical imaging researchers allowed rapid translation of this knowledge to ophthalmic OCT image analysis. The transition from primarily 2D retinal imaging
using fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, and other 2D approaches that
were mostly qualitative in clinical care to quantitative 3D analyses was arguably the
fastest among all areas of clinical and translational medicine.
v