title: Invivo depth-resolved birefringence measurements of the human retinal nerve fiber layer by polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography.
abstract: To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of in vivo depth-resolved birefringence measurements of the human retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) by use of polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT). Because glaucoma causes nerve fiber layer damage, which may cause loss of retinal birefringence, PS-OCT is a potentially useful technique for the early detection of glaucoma. We built a fiber-based PS-OCT setup that produces quasi-real-time images of the human retina in vivo . Preliminary measurements of a healthy volunteer showed that the double-pass phase retardation per unit depth of the RNFL near the optic nerve head is 39+/-6( degrees )/100microm .
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cense
authors.forename: Teresa C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: B Hyle
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Mark C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pierce
authors.forename: Johannes F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: de Boer