Keratoconus detection based on a new corneal volumetric analysis

Abstract

There are numerous tomographic indices for the detection of keratoconus risk. When the indexes based on corneal volume are analyzed, two problems are presented: on the one hand, they are not very sensitive to the detection of incipient cases of keratoconus because they are not locally defined in the primary developmental region of the structural abnormalities; and on the other hand, they do not register the geometric decompensation driven by the asymmetry present during the disease progression. This work performed a morphogeometric modeling of the cornea by the aid of CAD tools and using raw topographic data (Sirius system, CSO, Firenze). For this method, four singular points present on the corneal surfaces were located and the following parameters based on corneal volume were calculated: VOLmct, defined by the points of minimal thickness; VOLaap, defined by the anterior corneal apex, and VOLpap, defined by the posterior corneal apex. The results demonstrate that a further reduction of corneal volume in keratoconus happens and significantly progresses along the disease severity level. The combination of optical and volumetric data, that collect the sensitivity of the asymmetry generated by the disease, allows an accurate detection of incipient cases and follow up of the disease progression.