A computer-based diagnosis system for early glaucoma screening.

Glaucoma is a serious eye disease and the major cause of blindness worldwide. Glaucoma screening is a useful way in detecting the disease at an early stage. This paper presents a computer-based glaucoma screening system in which optic nerve defects detection, visual field examination, and expert system rules are combined to increase the sensitivity and specificity. Several fundus image processing methods are used and a histogram model is given especially for combed hair retinal nerve fiber layer defect. A visual field test performed on computer monitor is adopted to reduce the cost for other perimetry equipments. The assistant diagnostic module can give a primary diagnosis based on a set of fuzzy rules. The system is cost effective and suitable for detecting early stage glaucoma, especially for large-scale screening.