OCT: advances in primary eye care

With the increasing use of the optical coherence tomography in primary eye care practices, it is perhaps not surprising that an annual conference dedicated to this area is becoming established. The Topcon University-supported National OCT Conference attracted speakers and delegates from the UK and beyond. Over 22-23 November, the conference covered a range of topics from ocular pathology to business modelling in clinical practice, and also offered a clue as to future developments in OCT technology. Here we summarise the key learning points that emerged.

OCT Evolution

Professor Paulo Stanga (Manchester), who was instrumental in introducing OCT to UK clinical ophthalmology, began each day with a keynote lecture. The first covered the evolution of OCT and gave an update on treatment. ‘OCT technology has developed fast to revolutionise eye care, firstly within secondary care,’ Prof Stanga began. It is now fundamental to medical retina practice, but actually also applicable to virtually every sector of ophthalmology, including oncology, glaucoma, anterior segment and inherited diseases. Indeed, the thing limiting access by patients is the number of instruments. ‘This is a great opportunity for optometrists with OCTs to work with hospitals, to provide OCT scanning services where their capacity is limited or non-existent,’ Stanga concluded in his opening comments.