Computer image analysis of the optic disc.

A computer method for image analysis of the optic disc is presented. Black and white photographic transparencies of the optic disc were scanned by a scanning television camera. The image was digitized into not more than 4,000 x 4,000 points, each representing a value ranging between 0 and 255 gray levels. The images are depicted in two ways; either in the form of a topographic map (contour) in which the curves join points of identical light intensity, or as a relief that expresses the light intensity of every scanned line. This method emphasizes the qualitative parameters of the disc, and enables a quantitative determination of some disc pathologies.