Neuroretinal rim measurement error using PC-based stereo software

ABSTRACT The neuroretinal rims of a set of glaucoma patients were measured using digitized stereo photographs, to determine the reproducibility of computerized stereo measurements of the neuroretinal rim. Each rim was measured five times at 18 locations, with measurement error (ME) defined as the mean of standard deviations of each set of measurements. The following ME were determined: (i) inter‐sessional variability (n = 27 right and 24 left eyes, at t1 and t2); (ii) inter‐assessor variability (n = 9, 2 assessors); and (iii) variability after colour adjustment algorithms were applied (n = 15). The results were as follows: (i) inter‐sessional variability was 3.41 ± 1.08 for t1 and 3.22 ± 0.84 for t2;; (ii) there was a significant difference between the two assessors, although the ME was still low; and (iii) there was no significant differences between the ME of unadjusted and adjusted images. With a measurement error of up to 11% of rim width, these results show that low‐ cost rim measurements can be made using PC‐based software.