NASA posts update on OCT in space

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NASA’s evaluation of ocular changes in astronauts has taken another giant leap after the agency released a seven minute video documenting its project.

It has been investigating the ‘fluid shift’ and intracranial pressure changes in ten astronauts, examining the nerve fibre layer and the choroid, using the Heidelberg Engineering Spectralis.

More than half the astronauts had returned to earth with vision changes. Researchers in the US were investigating hypothesis that a fluid shift towards the head during space flight caused increased intracranial pressure flattening the back of the eye ball.

A highlights video released last month included footage from within spacecraft and a demonstration of how Spectralis imaging can track changes in routine eye exams on earth and in space. NASA collected IR fundus images, OCT scans with choroidal segmented, choroidal thickness graphs, as well as optic nerve and lamina cribrosa images.