A slit lamp biomicroscopic examination along with an appropriate aspheric focusing lens (+66D, +78D or +90D) is required for a detailed stereoscopic view of the optic disc and structures inside the eye.

In particular, the eye care physician notes the colour, cupping size (as a cup-to-disc ratio), sharpness of edge, swelling, hemorrhages, notching in the optic disc and any other unusual anomalies.

Women in an advanced stage of pregnancy with pre-eclampsia should be screened by an ophthalmoscopic examination of the optic disc for early evidence of a rise in intracranial pressure.

Stereoscopic images offer an excellent investigative tool for serial follow-up of suspected changes in the hands of an expert optometrist or ophthalmologist.

They quantify the nerve fiber layer of the disc and surrounding retina and statistically correlate the findings with a database of previously screened population of normals.

Blood flow in the retina and choroid in the optic disc region can be revealed non invasively by near-infrared laser Doppler imaging.

[5] Furthermore, the Doppler spectrum asymmetry reveals the local direction of blood flow with respect to the optical axis.