3-DIMENSIONAL VISUALIZATION OF CONFOCAL SECTIONS OF IN-VIVO HUMAN FUNDUS AND OPTIC-NERVE

A confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope was used to image the human f undus in vivo at a series of 32 sections from near the retinal surface to deep within the optic nerve head. The optical sections were digiti zed and aligned to compensate for eye movement during image acquisitio n and stored on a computer. This registered stack of optical sections was reconstructed using specialized computational software. The three- dimensional volume rendering of the stack of optical sections results in a new way to view the in vivo optic nerve in three dimensions. This technique is of clinical importance since structural factors of the l amina cribrosa of the optic nerve may be important in glaucomatous dam age. There may be diagnostic potential in the in vivo observation of t he three-dimensional structure of the optic nerve.