The relationship between the optical density of cataract and its influence on retinal nerve fibre layer thickness measured with spectral domain optical coherence tomography

. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to model the influence of cataract on Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SDOCT) image quality and Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer (RNFL) thickness measurements. Methods: SDOCT images, made with two different devices (3DOCT‐1000, Topcon and Cirrus HD‐OCT), before and after cataract surgery were compared and judged against measurements from normal subjects using artificial filters simulating the effects of cataract. Optical density of the images was calculated based on a mathematical model described previously. Results: In total, forty‐eight eyes were included for pre‐ and postoperative cataract extraction measurements. OCT image quality significantly (p