Using high-density perimetry to explore new approaches for characterizing visual field defects

High-density threshold perimetry has found that conventional static threshold perimetry misses defects due to undersampling. However, high-density testing can be both slow and limited by normal fixational eye movements. We explored alternatives by studying displays of high-density perimetry results for angioscotomas in healthy eyes—areas of reduced sensitivity in the shadows of blood vessels. The right eyes of four healthy adults were tested with a Digital Light Ophthalmoscope that gathered retinal images while presenting visual stimuli. The images were used to infer stimulus location on each trial. Contrast thresholds for a Goldmann size III stimulus were measured at 247 locations of a 13°×19° rectangular grid, with separation 0.5°, extending from 11° to 17° horizontally and − 3° to +6° vertically, covering a portion of the optic nerve head and several major blood vessels. Maps of perimetric sensitivity identified diffuse regions of reduced sensitivity near the blood vessels, but these showed moderate structure–function agreement that was only modestly improved when effects of eye position were accounted for. An innovative method termed slice display was used to locate regions of reduced sensitivity. Slice display demonstrated that many fewer trials could yield similar structure–function agreement. These results are an indication that test duration might be reduced dramatically by focusing on location of defects rather than maps of sensitivity. Such alternatives to conventional threshold perimetry have the potential to map the shape of defects without the extensive time demands of high-density threshold perimetry. Simulations illustrate how such an algorithm could operate.