A confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope was used to image the human fundusin vivoat a series of 32 sections from near the retinal surface to deep within the optic nerve head. The optical sections were digitized and aligned to compensate for eye movement during image acquisition and stored on a computer. This registered stack of optical sections was reconstructed using specialized computational software. The three-dimensional volume rendering of the stack of optical sections results in a new way to view thein vivooptic nerve in three dimensions. This technique is of clinical importance since structural factors of thelamina cribrosaof the optic nerve may be important in glaucomatous damage. There may be diagnostic potential in thein vivoobservation of the three-dimensional structure of the optic nerve.