HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (11) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pircher, M. Articles by Hitzenberger, C. K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Pircher, M. Articles by Hitzenberger, C. K.

Human Macula Investigated In Vivo with Polarization-Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography

¹From the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Physics, Medical University of Vienna, Austria; and the ²Department of Ophthalmology, General Hospital and Medical University of Vienna, Austria.

PURPOSE. To investigate a depolarizing layer that is visible in polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) images of the retina. To identify this layer and characterize its depolarizing effect quantitatively.

METHODS. Ten healthy human subjects (mean age, 31 ± 8 years) and two patients with RPE diseases participated in the study. The macular region of one eye of each subject was investigated with a phase-resolved PS-OCT system. The instrument measured backscattered intensity (standard OCT), phase retardation, and (cumulative) birefringent axis orientation, simultaneously. For a quantification of the depolarizing layer, plots of the distributions of retardation and axis orientation within and above this layer were analyzed.

RESULTS. A polarization-scrambling layer (PSL) was observed at the posterior boundary of the retina in PS-OCT images of all volunteers. It was identified in PS-OCT images by determining random retardation and axis orientation in a transverse direction. Measurements in patients with neurosensory retinal detachment, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) detachment, and RPE atrophy suggest that the PSL is the RPE. The statistical analysis provided objective discrimination of the RPE from the other retinal structures.

CONCLUSIONS. PS-OCT represents a powerful tool for increasing image contrast in ocular tissues. The observed polarization-scrambling nature of the RPE may be used in diseased eyes to locate the RPE or remains of the RPE definitively in OCT images.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Fleckenstein, P. C. Issa, H.-M. Helb, S. Schmitz-Valckenberg, R. P. Finger, H. P. N. Scholl, K. U. Loeffler, and F. G. Holz High-Resolution Spectral Domain-OCT Imaging in Geographic Atrophy Associated with Age-Related Macular Degeneration Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., September 1, 2008; 49(9): 4137 - 4144. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Miura, M. Yamanari, T. Iwasaki, A. E. Elsner, S. Makita, T. Yatagai, and Y. Yasuno Imaging Polarimetry in Age-Related Macular Degeneration Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., June 1, 2008; 49(6): 2661 - 2667. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S Michels, M Pircher, W Geitzenauer, C Simader, E Gotzinger, O Findl, U Schmidt-Erfurth, and C K Hitzenberger Value of polarisation-sensitive optical coherence tomography in diseases affecting the retinal pigment epithelium Br. J. Ophthalmol., February 1, 2008; 92(2): 204 - 209. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]