Different imaging modalities exist for acquiring images of the eye. Most of these modalities focus on imaging the retina, but the human visual system does not only consist of the eye but it is extended into the brain through the optic nerve till the visual cortex.

In this highly interdisciplinary project, we aim to analyze the human visual system using diffusion tensor imaging in order to investigate the correlation between the optic radiation changes and the glaucomatous signs of the optic nerve.

Identification of the Optic Radiation: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is used to monitor the extension of the visual system inside the brain. DTI is based on diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging. The DTI modality is the only modality that allows tracking the nerve fibers in the brain non-invasively. Identification of the optic radiation in diffusion tensor images is rather a challenging task due to the uncertainty in DTI-data due to its probabilistic nature and dealing with tensor valued images. Furthermore, obtaining anatomically meaningful results requires a close collaboration with medical experts to guide and evaluate the identification process, which is provided by the cooperation with the neuroradiology and the ophthalmology departments. A segmentation algorithm for the optic radiation is currently being developed that accounts for the probabilistic nature of DTI-data. The following step will be to evaluate the segmentation and to analyze the segmented optic radiation and study its correlation with Galucoma.

Analysis of the Optic Radiation: In this part of the project the diffusion tensor imaging is investigated as an analysis tool of galucoma. The diffusion tensor derived parameters within the optic radiation are examined and their ability in differentiating between normal and glaucoma subjects is investigated. The approaches used for this purpose are global analysis of the optic radiation and voxel-based analysis of the optic radiation.