Optical Coherence Tomography Guided Transepithelial Phototherapeutic Keratectomy
Oregon Health and Science University
Summary
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) machines are non-contact instruments that can measure the depth of scars and other causes of cloudiness in the front of the cornea. The purpose of this study is to determine whether OCT-guided settings for the lasers used for removal of corneal scars and other partial-thickness corneal defects result in improved vision in patients receiving these procedures.
Description
The long-term goal of this project is to utilize newly available very high-speed OCT technology to guide surgical treatments of corneas with superficial opacities and irregularities. OCT is well known for its exquisite resolution, but until recently it has not had sufficient speed to capture the shape of the cornea because of eye motion during OCT scanning. The development of Fourier-domain OCT (FD-OCT) technology has made the requisite speed possible. Eyes with superficial opacities (corneal scars and stromal dystrophies) can be treated by phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK). Currently, many…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with vision primarily limited by superficial opacities and irregularities that could be removed by PTK while leaving at least 250 µm. Exclusion Criteria: * Inability to give informed consent * Inability to maintain stable fixation for OCT imaging * Inability to commit to required visits to complete the study * Deep corneal opacities and irregularities * Cataracts, retinal disease, glaucoma, or other eye conditions that may limit the visual outcome after surgery
Interventions
- DrugOCT-guided laser phototherapeutic keratectomy
Preoperative measurements from the OCT are used to assist the calculation in deciding the laser depth settings for removal of anterior corneal opacities and defects in the phototherapeutic PTK procedure. The surgeon uses the OCT data to plan a range of treatment parameters to remove most of the opacity while preserving at least 250 microns of residual corneal stroma.
Location
- Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science UniversityPortland, Oregon