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Effect of image averaging on optical coherence tomography angiography data in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion

  • Retinal Disorders
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the effect of image averaging on qualitative and quantitative assessments of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images from eyes of patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).

Methods

Macular OCTA images of 33 eyes of 33 patients with BRVO were obtained using the HS100 HR-SD-OCT system (Canon, Inc.). For each eye, five OCTA cube scans were obtained with a 3 × 3 mm scan protocol, and the data were averaged and compounded into a single high image quality cube data using built-in software. Pre- and post-averaging images were compared qualitatively and quantitatively in superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) OCTA image slabs.

Results

After averaging, all OCTA images showed marked improvement in image quality with less background noise and better vessel continuity. The number of microaneurysms in both the SCP and DCP was larger in single images than in averaged images. A significant increase in the detection rate of capillary telangiectasia in the DCP was noted after image averaging. The number of eyes with disrupted foveal avascular zone (FAZ) decreased significantly after averaging (P = .0253). Five eyes (15.2%) with a disrupted FAZ on the single image showed an intact FAZ after averaging. Vessel length density (VLD) and fractal dimension (FD) significantly decreased and vessel diameter index (VDI) increased after averaging, while significant changes were not observed in vessel density (VD) in both the SCP and DCP. In the SCP, lower VD, VLD, and fractal dimension were significantly correlated with worse visual acuity.

Conclusions

OCTA averaging has a significant effect on qualitative and quantitative assessments in eyes with BRVO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Shogoin Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan

    Akihito Uji, Yuki Muraoka, Shin Kadomoto, Sotaro Ooto, Tomoaki Murakami, Tadamichi Akagi, Manabu Miyata & Akitaka Tsujikawa

  2. Doheny Image Reading Center, Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    SriniVas R. Sadda

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    SriniVas R. Sadda

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  1. Akihito Uji
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  3. Yuki Muraoka
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Akihito Uji.

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Conflict of interest

Akihito Uji, Alcon (Recipient), Senju (Recipient), Canon (Recipient); SriniVas R. Sadda, Carl Zeiss Meditec (Financial Support), Optos (Financial Support, Consultant), Allergan (Financial Support, Consultant), Genentech (Financial Support, Consultant), Alcon (Consultant); Novartis (Consultant); Roche (Consultant), Regeneron (Consultant), Bayer (Consultant), Thrombogenics (Consultant), Stemm Cells, Inc. (Consultant), Avalanche (Consultant); Yuki Muraoka, Bayer (Recipient), Novartis Pharma K.K. (Recipient), Senju (Recipient), Nidek (Recipient); Shin Kadomoto, Nidek (Recipient), Canon (Recipient); Sotaro Ooto, Novartis Pharma K.K. (Recipient), Bayer (Recipient), Santen (Recipient), Senju (Recipient); Tomoaki Murakami, Bayer (Recipient), Novartis Pharma K.K. (Recipient), Santen (Recipient), Senju (Recipient); Tadamichi Akagi, Alcon (Recipient), Kowa (Recipient), Pfizer (Recipient), Santen (Recipient), Senju (Recipient), Canon (Recipient); Akitaka Tsujikawa, Pfizer (Financial Support, Recipient), Novartis Pharma K.K. (Financial Support, Recipient), Bayer (Financial Support, Recipient), Alcon (Financial Support, Recipient), Santen (Financial Support, Recipient), Senju (Financial Support, Recipient), Nidek (Recipient), Kowa (Financial Support, Recipient), Hoya (Financial Support, Recipient), AMO Japan (Financial Support, Recipient).

Ethical approval

All study procedures involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee, and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual study participants.

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Electronic supplementary material

Supplemental Figure 1.

Difference in the influence of image averaging on quantitative measurements between binarized and skeletonized images. In binarized images, decreased pixels corresponding to background noise (black circles) might be equal to the increased pixels in annealed vessels after averaging. On the other hand, in skeletonized images, the number of decreased pixels corresponding to background noise is larger than the increased pixels in annealed vessels after averaging, because both thick and thin vessels are skeletonized into a single pixel. (PNG 1173 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 151 kb)

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Uji, A., Sadda, S.R., Muraoka, Y. et al. Effect of image averaging on optical coherence tomography angiography data in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 258, 1639–1648 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-020-04713-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-020-04713-9

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