The Future of Cataract Assessment: Investigation of the Utility of a Novel Binocular OCT System for Clinical Application

Cataract is the second leading cause of blindness in western Europe but the leading cause of blindness in the developing world and both central and eastern Europe. The most common cause of cataract is age. A number of clinical assessments are required to assess the status and suitability of each patient for cataract surgery. Currently, these procedures are performed in an inefficient manner with the patient having to move to different clinical areas to access often large instruments that are costly to both purchase and maintain. Such an inefficient patient pathway has been identified as a factor that can markedly increase the cost of outpatient appointments, extend waiting times, and crucially lead to a reduction in patient satisfaction. A novel instrument that offers a solution to such problems is the recently developed Binocular Optical Coherence Tomographer. Binocular-OCT is capable of non-invasively imaging the whole-eye in a potentially small, inexpensive and portable device and is also capable of capturing images from both eyes in the same session without the need for assistance from a trained technician. The Binocular-OCT has the capability to perform the functions of many clinical tools in a single instrument. Of particular relevance to the assessment of the patient with cataract is the ability to capture high resolution images of the anterior eye and crystalline lens with swept-source OCT technology. In this study, the proposed advantages of binocular OCT system will be assessed for the management of cataract.

This research is important, to not only improve cataract assessment and optomise surgical outcomes, but it is also vital to establish sensitive measures of lens quality to determine tools to aid trails attempting to retard the progression of cataract.