OCT Segmentation Errors with Bruch's Membrane Opening-Minimum Rim Width as Compared with Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness

Abstract

Objective

To compare the magnitude and location of automated segmentation errors of the Bruch’s membrane opening-minimum rim width (BMO-MRW) and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT).

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Participants

We included 162 glaucoma suspect or open-angle glaucoma eyes from 162 participants.

Methods

We used spectral-domain optic coherence tomography (Spectralis 870 nm, Heidelberg Engineering) to image the optic nerve with 24 radial optic nerve head B-scans and a 12-degree peripapillary circle scan, and exported the native “automated segmentation only” results for BMO-MRW and RNFLT. We also exported the results after “manual refinement” of the measurements.

Main Outcome Measures

We calculated the absolute and proportional error globally and within the 12 30-degree sectors of the optic disc. We determined whether the glaucoma classifications were different between BMO-MRW and RNFLT as a result of manual and automatic segmentation.

Results

The absolute error mean was larger for BMO-MRW than for RNFLT (10.8 μm vs. 3.58 μm, P < 0.001). However, the proportional errors were similar (4.3% vs. 4.4%, P = 0.47). In a multivariable regression model, errors in BMO-MRW were not significantly associated with age, location, magnitude, or severity of glaucoma loss (all P ≥ 0.05). However, larger RNFLT errors were associated with the superior and inferior sector location, thicker nerve fiber layer, and worse visual field (all P < 0.05). Errors in BMO-MRW and RNFLT were not likely to occur in the same sector location (R² = 0.001; P = 0.15). With manual refinement, the glaucoma classification changed in 7.8% and 6.2% of eyes with BMO-MRW and RNFLT, respectively.

Conclusions

Both BMO-MRW and RNFLT measurements included segmentation errors, which did not seem to have a common location, and may result in differences in glaucoma classification.

Financial Disclosure(s)

Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.