The prognosis of some pathologies can be aided by a 3D visualization of the affected areas of the eye. For example, in certain cases the density of cystic formations or the amount of drusen present can be hard to ascertain from a series of unrelated two-dimensional longitudinal images of the eye. However, some OCT machines are capable of taking a sequence of spatially related two-dimensional images in a suitably short period of time. These images can either be oriented longitudinally (perpendicular to the retina) or transversely (near-parallel to the retina). Once such a sequence has been captured, it then becomes possible for the examined volume of data to be reconstructed for an interactive 3D inspection by a user of the system (see Figure U.3-5). It is also possible for measurements, including volumes, to be calculated based on the 3D data.

A reference image is often combined with the OCT data to provide a means of registering the 3D OCT data-set with a location on the surface of the retina (see Figure U.3-6 and Figure U.3-7).