How is glaucoma diagnosed?

For detection of glaucoma your eye specialist will perform a comprehensive eye examination to examine the eye pressure, drainage channels of your eye and optic nerves. Your eye specialist can measure your eye pressure with specialized machine called the tonometer. He or she will also use a special machine to measure the thickness of your cornea called pachymetry. This is important because a thin cornea can cause artificially low eye pressure, and a thicker cornea can cause artificially high eye pressure. Additional tests you will have include:

Visual field test. This test measures your peripheral (side vision). It helps your eye care professional tell if you have lost peripheral vision, a sign of glaucoma.

OCT (optical coherence tomography) scan. This test uses non-invasive and safe laser to assess the amount of neural tissue present in your optic nerve and the population of neural cells (ganglion cells) in the retina. The OCT and visual field test forms an integral part of documenting the structure and functional changes caused by glaucoma. It is important for diagnosis of glaucoma as well as assessing whether there has been any progression.

Optic nerve photography. This is a special photograph of the optic nerve to document its appearance for future reference.

In addition, Dr George Kong co-invented the worlds first home monitoring app on Apple iPad that allows patients to perform visual field test at home. If you use this software app it will allow your eye specialist to monitor your glaucoma more frequently, therefore able to detect any worsening of glaucoma early.