Decoding Scleral Structures With Polarized Light

Chan and Henao discuss the study by Ohno-Matsui et al on dome-shaped macula in eyes with high-myopia. The team used polarized-sensitive optical tomographic (PS-OCT) imaging to assess the scleral abnormalities of these eyes. The use of polarized light to investigate scleral structures breaks new ground in clinical research in ophthalmology. Polarized microscopy has long been an important research tool in the fields of medicine and material science,2 and PS-OCT has been used in the study of biological tissues including various parts of the eye. However, it has not been used extensively to investigate the sclera. The unique properties of polarized light allow detailed probing of the complex architecture of the sclera.