# Diagnosis and Monitoring of Glaucoma with Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2024 · $691,680

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a non-invasive, 3-dimensional imaging method to
visualize and quantify microvasculature throughout the retina. The proposed study evaluates the clinical utility
of OCTA measurements compared to standard structural measurements of the optic nerve head (ONH), retinal
nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and macula measured using the current clinical imaging standard, spectral domain
optical coherence tomography (OCT) to predict and detect progression of disease in glaucoma suspects and
glaucoma patients. Our research, and that of others, has shown that superficial retinal vessel density
(proportion of measured area composed of blood vessels) in the ONH region and macula is less dense in open
angle glaucoma (OAG) eyes than in healthy eyes. Moreover, diagnostic accuracy is improved with increasing
disease severity. Research from our laboratory suggests that the diagnostic accuracy of vessel density is
similar to that of OCT-measured RNFL thickness, and that vessel density is reduced in retinal regions
associated with localized visual field (VF) defects. These cross-sectional results strongly suggest that OCTA
measurements reflect damage to tissues relevant to the pathophysiology of OAG. In a longitudinal study, the
mean rate of change in macula vessel density was shown to be significantly faster in OAG eyes than in
glaucoma suspect or healthy eyes. Finally, recent results indicate that shallow machine learning analyses of
combinations of OCTA measurements can improve classification of healthy and glaucoma eyes compared to
standard instrument measurements as can deep learning analyses of OCTA enface images. The current study
provides a unique opportunity to extend the longitudinal OCTA data that has already been collected from 480
eyes racially diverse individuals for up to 10 years to investigate vessel density change over time in healthy,
glaucoma suspect and OAG eyes, and to compare it to other imaging modalities. The aims of this study are 1)
to improve our understandingof the relative change over time of OCTA and OCT measurements in healthy and
diseased eyes to identify true disease-related change more accurately and 2) to improve our understanding of
the risk of developing glaucomatous progression using statistical and deep learning-based analyses of multi-
modal OCTA and OCT measurements. The proposed studies will enhance our understanding of age and
glaucoma-related change in vessel density and retinal tissue thickness allowing us to predict and detect
change more accurately, thus possibly slowing the rate of progression and consequently reducing the risk of
reduction of vision related quality of life, including blindness.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10865005
- **Project number:** 5R01EY029058-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** ROBERT N WEINREB
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $691,680
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-05-01 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10865005

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10865005, Diagnosis and Monitoring of Glaucoma with Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (5R01EY029058-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10865005. Licensed CC0.

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