Three-dimensional surface presentation of optic nerve head from SPECTRALIS OCT images: observing glaucoma patients.

PURPOSE: To propose an innovative three-dimensional surface presentation of the optic nerve head (ONH) from the SPECTRALIS optical coherence tomography (OCT) device.

METHOD: A dataset of OCT ONH files from eight glaucoma follow-up patients was obtained. The set consisted of OCT ONH images for 20 right eyes (OD) and 17 left eyes (OS). Preprocessing steps followed with OCT reconstruction procedures were designed. The three-dimensional (3D) surface rendering was generated for all OCT ONH images. A set of eight International Organization for Standardization (ISO) roughness parameters were calculated to assess the disparities in the 3D ONH surface morphology during follow-up visit.

RESULTS: The 3D ONH surface presents a new OCT display to ophthalmology; so, the physician can examine the surface morphology of the OCT ONH region. The 3D ONH surface's shape varied noticeably during follow-up visits in glaucoma patients. The percentage disparity of ONH surface roughness's can be as small as 3% or almost zero, but it can be as large as 56% or 100%.

CONCLUSIONS: The approximation of OCT ONH 3D surface is feasible; it may possibly be beneficial to ophthalmology. It allows ophthalmologist to perceive the entire changes in the ONH surface morphology during the follow-up attendances; so, it can be used to observe patient health. The ISO roughness measurements are suggestive complementary factors to observe the alterations in the OCT ONH region.