The clinical evaluation of a widefield lens to expand the field of view in optical coherence tomography (OCT-A)

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical benefits of incorporating a widefield lens (WFL) in optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) in patients with retinal vascular diseases in comparison to standard single-shot OCT-A scans. Sixty patients with retinal vascular diseases including diabetic retinopathy (DR) and retinal vein occlusion (RVO) were recruited. OCT-A imaging (PlexElite 9000) with and without WFL was performed in randomized order. The assessment included patient comfort, time, field of view (FoV), image quality and pathology detection. Statistical analysis included paired t-tests, Mann-Whitney U-tests and Bonferroni correction for multiple tests, with inter-grader agreement using the kappa coefficient. Using a WFL did not lead to statistically significant differences in DR and RVO group test times. Patient comfort remained high, with similar responses for WFL and non-WFL measurements. The WFL notably expanded the scan field (1.6x FoV increase), enhancing peripheral retinal visibility. However, image quality varied due to pathology and eye dominance, affecting the detection of peripheral issues in RVO and DR cases. The use of a WFL widens the scan field, aiding vascular retinal disease imaging with minor effects on comfort, time, and image quality. Further enhancements are needed for broader view angles, enabling improved quantification of non-perfused areas and more reliable peripheral proliferation detection.