Optic nerve head slope-based quantitative parameters for identifying open-angle glaucoma on SPECTRALIS OCT images.

PURPOSE: To investigate monitoring slope-based features of the optic nerve head (ONH) cup as open-angle glaucoma (OAG) occurs.

METHOD: A dataset of 46 retrospective OCT cases was acquired from the SPECTRALIS Heidelberg Engineering OCT device. A set of five parameters, which are based on the ONH cup-incline, are measured on the OAG and normal subjects in the dataset. Then, three new ONH cup-shape indices were deduced. The ONH cup-incline parameters and ONH cup-shape indices are analyzed to estimate their clinical value.

RESULTS: The statistical difference between measurements on normal and glaucoma eyes was remarkably significant for all of the analyzed parameters and indices (p value < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The geometric shape of the ONH cup can be transferred to numerical parameters and indices. The proposed ONH cup-incline parameters and ONH cup-shape indices have shown suggestive clinical value to identify the development of OAG. As OAG appears, the top ONH cup-incline parameters decrease while the bottom ONH cup-incline parameters increase. The ONH cup-shape indices suggest capability to discriminate OAG from normal eyes.