UC Berkeley

Purpose

Meibomian gland contrast may be a potential indicator of gland health, especially among isotretinoin users. We aimed to develop a repeatable and reliable method for measuring Meibomian gland contrast from meibography images.

Methods

Lower lid (LL) and upper lid (UL) meibography were captured with the OCULUS Keratograph 5M (OCULUS, Inc) at 2 visits under the following 4 conditions: face centered with room lights on (C), left-turned face (L), right-turned face (R), and face centered with room lights off (CLO). Contrast was measured with Fiji (v2.0.0-rc-59). Coefficient of repeatability and limits of agreement (LOA) were determined using Bland-Altman plots.

Results

A total of 512 meibography images from 16 subjects (age ± SD = 24.8 ± 5.2 years; 13 female patients) were collected. Coefficient of repeatability between visits was 10.5 for UL and 14.9 for LL. Lower and upper LOA, respectively, for UL, compared with condition C, were -10.9 [95% confidence interval (CI), -13.5 to -8.3] and 6.2 (95% CI, 3.6-8.8) for L; -11.0 (95% CI, -13.8 to -8.1) and 7.0 (95% CI, 4.2-9.8) for R; and -9.0 (95% CI, -11.6 to -6.5) and 7.2 (95% CI, 4.7-9.8) for CLO. Lower and upper LOA, respectively, for LL, compared with condition C, were -18.1 (95% CI, -22.6 to -13.5) and 11.0 (95% CI, 6.5-15.5) for L; -15.3 (95% CI, -19.2 to -11.3) and 9.9 (95% CI, 6.0-13.9) for R; and -12.0 (95% CI, -15.1 to -8.8) and 8.2 (95% CI, 5.0-11.3) for CLO.

Conclusions

Meibomian gland contrast is a repeatable and reliable measure for changes in Meibomian gland contrast greater than 11 in the UL and 18 in the LL.