Figure 1.

(A) A single raw serial section block-face image from a representative normal monkey ONH showing the ONH, with connective tissues stained red and a highlighted region of the lamina. (B) A close up view of the highlighted region showing the laminar beams stained in red; (C) the same image as seen in (B), with blue borders indicating the edges of the lamina cribrosa connective tissues as 3D-segmented by our algorithm. (D, Next Page) Anterior view of the full 3D-segmented lamina cribrosa microarchitecture of a normal monkey ONH. Note that the laminar trabeculae insert into the sclera at the periphery, and the central retinal vessels are seen in the center of the reconstruction. The retinal ganglion cell axons that transmit visual signals from the eye to the brain pass through the pores in the lamina. Note that the laminar microstructure shows tremendous regional variation in pore size, laminar beam thickness, connective tissue volume fraction, and connective tissue volume, all of which should affect regional laminar biomechanics. The region to the right of the central retinal vessels (temporal) has small laminar beams and small pores, while the region to the left of the vessels (nasal) has large laminar beams and large pores. Interestingly, these regions have similar connective tissue volume fractions.