Seeing Small and Aiming Big: the Development and Clinical Impact of Optical Coherence Tomography

David HuangUnited States Speaker OCT/OCTA Application in the Anterior SegmentOptical coherence tomography (OCT) applications in the anterior segment have lagged retinal imaging because of the wider area and deeper structures that need to be covered, including the cornea, anterior chamber, and crystalline lens. With recent advances in the speed and depth range of both spectral-domain and swept-source OCT has finally hit the mainstream with many products reaching the market in the past 5 years. Compared to Placido-disc and Scheimpflug slit-scanning technologies, OCT offers higher depth resolution and the ability to map epithelial thickness as well as pachymetry, anterior topography, and posterior topography. This lecture will describe how this can be used to detect and differentiate among the major classes of corneal diseases. Other topics that will be covered include wide-field OCT for corneoscleral topography, OCT microscopy to see cells and pathogens, OCT biometry for intraocular lens calculations, and OCT angiography for the evaluation of iris and ocular surface tumors.Seeing Small and Aiming Big: the Development and Clinical Impact of Optical Coherence TomographyOptical coherence tomography (OCT) is a technology invented in 1991 to image small critical tissue structures with micrometer resolution. It is widely used in eye and coronary heart diseases. I will tell the story of OCT’s initial conception from the inventor’s perspective along with an account of the rapid pace of development that made OCT a clinical reality. The biggest applications of OCT in the management of eye diseases will be shown. Recent advances that enable OCT to advance beyond the imaging of tissue structure to the detection of blood flow and photoreceptor function will be described. The roles of academia, industry, and government agencies in the clinical translation of OCT will be highlighted.