Precision of a new ocular biometer in children and comparison with IOLMaster

To assess the repeatability and reproducibility of AL-Scan in agreement with those by the IOLMaster in healthy children, two skilled operators measured ocular parameters in 58 children. The parameters included keratometry (K) values, anterior chamber depth (ACD), axial length (AL), central corneal thickness (CCT), pupil diameter (PD), and corneal diameter (CD). The cohort comprised of 32 boys and 26 girls. The AL-Scan measurements showed high repeatability, as the test-retest repeatability (TRT) values of AL, CCT, ACD, Kf, Ks, Km, CD, and PD were 0.09 mm, 5.1 μm, 0.04 mm, 0.28 D, 0.24 D, 0.21 D, 0.39 mm, and 0.22 mm, respectively. The within-subject coefficient of variation (CoV) was low (<0.35%) and the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) of all parameters were >0.85. The interobserver reproducibility was excellent with low values of TRT and ICC > 0.95. The CoV of AL, CCT, ACD, and K was <0.22%. The 95% limits of agreement between the AL-Scan and the IOLMaster were narrow for all parameters except for CD. The repeatability and reproducibility of the new biometer, Al-Scan, was excellent for all parameters and can be routinely used in children to measure the biometric values.