Research Project
2020317
DESCRIPTION: This study will improve the operating system software of the Laser Diagnostic Technologies (LDT) confocal scanning laser tomograph TopSS (Topographic Scanning System). In it, they propose to use a large library of TopSS images from the LSU Experimental Glaucoma Study (LEGS) to determine the best strategies for the following steps in the digital detection of optic nerve head (ONH) surface change (optic disc change): 1) image acquisition (how many and what kind of images to acquire each time an eye is imaged); 2) secondary image processing (generating the 256 x 256 elevation values of a single image output file); 3) generating individual image summary parameters (how to summarize the data from images in a way that is understandable to the clinician and allows statistical analysis to be performed ); and 4) secondary data analysis (statistical strategies that assess the variability of each parameter so as to determine the onset and progression of statistically significant change within a series of images from the same eye). In Phase I, the investigators will evaluate their existing strategies and develop new ones for each step. In Phase II, they will determine those strategies that maximize their detection of glaucomatous ONH surface change within the LEGS eyes and test these strategies in a new library of normal and glaucomatous human ONH images.
