The nerve fiber birefringence imaged by the scanning laser polarimetry ophthalmoscope
permits the nerve fiber laser to be distinguished from the rest of the retina. The Nerve Fiber
Analyzer(LDT, Inc) resolves the nerve fiber layer thickness to a reproducibility of 10um. To
evaluate the direct measurements of the retinal nerve fiber layer in normal and glaucoma
eyes, I have used the NFA. Retardation is higher in 15 normal subjects than 75 glaucoma
suspect & glaucoma eyes. Among 43 glaucoma eyes, thickness of NTG eyes are
significantly(p < 0.05) less than those of POAG. With these quantitative measurements, it
may be possible to monitor glaucomatous progression by detecting the changes and damage
of nerve fiber layer.
However, it may require to eliminate spurious measurements in areas of peripapillary atrophy,
and reduce operator input in image acquistion(focus, patient alignment and eveness of
illumination).
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