Practitioners not taking full advantage of OCT capabilities

Heidelberg Engineering has highlighted how practitioners can ensure they take full advantage of the diagnostic and monitoring capabilities of optical coherence tomography (OCT).

The imaging solutions company shared insights into the technology through case study presentations at the launch event of its Glaucoma Imaging Atlas at the Royal Society of Medicine on 7 June.

Opening the event, Heidelberg’s UK director of clinical affairs, Christopher Mody, described the atlas as “the most anticipated launch of any Heidelberg product.”

Director of clinical research in Germany, Ali Tafreshi, then shared with attendees that most practitioners are not taking full advantage of the technology for the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma.

He explained that through understanding the role of OCT and visual field analysis in glaucoma as well as ensuring that data is used correctly, the diagnosis of the disease will always be enhanced.

Mr Tafreshi added that the atlas aids practitioners in recognising patterns and removes uncertainty. The atlas features 30 patient case students from contributors from five countries.

“The atlas is designed to be used as a teaching tool to further educate the medical community on the implementation of OCT technology into the glaucoma clinic, as an aid to diagnosis and management, enabling effective, individualised patient care,” Mr Tafreshi said.

Mr Mody then took attendees on an OCT safari and detailed a systematic approach to evaluating images by identifying “the big five.”

Following Mr Mody’s case study presentations, Heidelberg welcomed senior consultant ophthalmologist at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany, Professor Christian Mardin, who spoke about taking a holistic approach to the assessment of glaucoma progression.

Professor Mardin also shared that there is an economic importance to early diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma.

“The financial burden of glaucoma increases with disease severity in terms of treatment, lost ability to work, drive and the implications to mental health,” he said.

After presenting three case studies, Professor Mardin concluded: “The atlas should motivate full use of the latest scanning technology and how modern glaucoma diagnosis benefits from the use of OCT imaging in conjunction with traditional disc photography and visual field assessment.”

Pictured is Professor Mardin with Mr Mody a the launch event.