With aging and progression of diseases such as myopia, vitreous undergoes fibrous liquefaction into gel and liquid components with opaque fibers and nodules. The molecular changes that form inhomogeneities in the vitreous body induce a disturbing visual phenomenon called Vision Degrading Myodesopsia (VDM) (i.e., “floaters”). Our past studies demonstrated that FDA approved, 15- and 20-MHz B-mode ophthalmic ultrasound (US) was very effective for quantifying vitreous echodensity (i.e., inhomogeneity) using quantitative US (QUS) methods based on B-mode log-compressed envelope data. We demonstrated a direct, probably causal relationship between the degree of vitreous echodensity and VDM’s impact on vision and quality of life. We found positive correlations between QUS and degradation in contrast sensitivity (CS) and unhappiness as assessed with the NEI-VFQ (Visual Function Questionnaire); that in myopia, QUS and CS worsened in eyes with PVD and longer axial lengths; that QUS and CS increased with PVD and age; that QUS and CS increased in eyes with PVD versus eyes without PVD; and that PVD induced increased QUS and CS, prospectively. Recently, we implemented a more rigorous QUS approach using the raw radiofrequency data and Double Nakagami envelope statistics to separate the noise and improve QUS analysis of vitreous echodensities.
Ketterling et al. (2025) studied this question.