[Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)--a new diagnostic tool in psychiatry?]

Abstract

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive, contact-less imaging method which provides an "in vivo" representation of the retina. It allows the quantitative measurement of retinal nerve fibre layer thickness (RNFLT) and macula thickness (MT) and, in addition, is suitable to measure volumes (e.g., macula volume/MV). In the research of neurodegenerative diseases, OCT has been increasingly used and has shown its potential as a possible diagnostic tool over the course of the last few years. In recent years, the hypothesis that mental disorders like schizophrenia or unipolar depressive disorder have a degenerative component was established through a variety of volumetric MRI studies. This review article aims to present the method of OCT, to display its recent use in medicine and psychiatry, as well as to examine possible additional applications in the field of psychiatry.