Efficacy of a new automated method for quantification of corneal neovascularisation

Abstract

Background/aims: To evaluate the efficacy of a new automated method for quantification of corneal neovascularisation (NV).

Methods: An in-house software for automated measurement of corneal NV was developed. Anterior segment photographs (ASPs) of 81 consecutive patients with corneal NV were analysed using our newly developed software. Manual measurements were performed by three independent examiners using ImageJ software V.1.48 (National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA). Interobserver reliability of the automated and manual methods, and correlations between the results of both methods were evaluated.

Results: The automated method showed a strong interexaminer reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)=0.994), which was slightly better than the manual method (ICC=0.958). A significant correlation was found between the results of both methods (p<0.001 for all three examiners). The time spent for analysis of each ASP was significantly reduced in the automated method compared with the manual method (p<0.001 for all three examiners).

Conclusions: Our newly developed automated method for quantification of corneal NV was more reproducible and time-saving compared with the manual method. Our method can be useful for diagnosis and monitoring diseases causing corneal NV.

Keywords: cornea; imaging; neovascularisation.