Optical Coherence Tomography May Help Detect MS Disease Processes

Optical Coherence Tomography May Help Detect MS Disease Processes

Jacquelyn K. Beals


June 12, 2007 (Washington, DC) — Use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to quantify retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) may offer advantages over MRI in detecting MS disease processes, a new study suggests.


"OCT is much quicker — it takes 5 minutes, as opposed to an hour to do an MRI. It's cheap compared with MRI, which is certainly costly," Dr. Grazioli told Medscape. "And it's looking as though it's going to be more specific for neural degeneration than MRI is." Dr. Grazioli noted that the MS community in general is exploring neural degeneration more than in the past, and that is where this new technique is heading.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/558111?src=mp