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Biomedical subjects

D A Atchison

Publications and source records attributed to D A Atchison.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Monocular diplopia caused by ocular aberrations and hyperopic defocus.

As a single aperture, approximately monofocal optical system, the human eye generally creates a single image on the retina. However, the literature contains many reports of perceptual monocular diplopia. While it is easy to understand how distortion may produce monocular diplopia, its reported high incidence in normal eyes is less easily understood. We examine a model which ascribes monocular diplopia to an interaction between defocus and ocular spherical aberration. Using a psychophysical hyperacuity-based alignment procedure we measured the transverse aberration function in 0.5 mm steps horizontally across the pupil in the eyes of three cyclopleged subjects. Ocular transverse aberration functions were derived with best refraction and with simulated myopia and hyperopia. Monocular diplopia was also measured under the same conditions. All three subjects showed significant, but different, degrees of positive spherical aberration. The measured ocular transverse aberration functions were predictably modified by the hyperopic and myopic defocus. Hyperopic defocus combined with positive (myopic) spherical aberration changes a monotonic transverse aberration function with a single inflection point into a biphasic function with two inflection points. The locations of the inflections predict the presence and magnitude of the perceived diplopia. These experimental results confirm Verhoeff's (1900) hypothesis for the ocular cause of monocular diplopia.

Adult↗

Spectacle lenses which correct oblique astigmatism at all ocular rotations: investigation of "Merté's' conicoidal surfaces.

Merté (1950) described lens forms that correct oblique astigmatism at all ocular rotations. The front surfaces of all lenses were flat, and the back surfaces were made aspherical as conicoids. Merté did not provide a derivation of his formulae for the appropriate conicoidal surfaces. We show that Merté's formula is correct and describe the nature of appropriate conicoidal back surfaces of spectacle lenses.

Astigmatism↗

Calculating relative retinal image sizes of eyes.

I derive simple formulas which accurately give the relative retinal image sizes of corrected eyes. These are useful in calculations involving anisometropia and/or refractive surgery. Using the formulas, I derive simple equations for particular situations and provide two examples. I compare the formulas with the approach adopted by Applegate and Howland (1993) and Applegate and Chundra (1995) to determine relative retinal image sizes before and after refractive surgery.

Eyeglasses↗

Measurement of monochromatic ocular aberrations of human eyes as a function of accommodation by the Howland aberroscope technique.

Further development of the objective version of the Howland and Howland [(1976) Science, 193, 580-582; (1977) Journal of the Optical Society of America, 67, 1508-1518] aberroscope technique for measuring ocular aberrations is described. Compensation for refractive corrections and calibration is discussed. The technique was used to investigate the effect of accommodation upon the monochromatic aberrations of the right eyes of 15 subjects. Coma and coma-like aberrations were the dominant aberrations for most people at different accommodation levels, thus confirming previous findings. Variations in aberrations were considerable between subjects. About half the subjects showed the classical trend towards negative spherical aberration with accommodation. Changes in spherical aberration with accommodation in this study were less than found in previous studies where all monochromatic aberration was considered to be spherical aberration.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Monochromatic aberrations and myopia.

The monochromatic aberrations present in the eyes of a group of 21 young myopic subjects and 16 young emmetropic subjects were measured along the visual axis at three levels of accommodation. The aberrations were measured using a modified aberroscope technique which makes use of a retinal camera to photograph the shadow image of the aberroscope grid on the retina, while accommodation levels of 0, 1.5 and 3.0 D were induced consensually. Fourth-order aberrations were significantly different between the emmetropic and myopic groups, with the myopes showing lower fourth-order terms. A high proportion of the aberroscope grids photographed in the myopic eyes were too highly aberrated to permit analysis.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Continuous gradient index and shell models of the human lens.

Because of the complexity of tracing rays through a gradient refractive index medium, the human eye's lens is sometimes approximated by a shell structure with constant refractive index within shells. In the shell model, power arises from a combination of an axial variation in index and the curvatures of the shell surfaces. We develop an equation which gives the power due to the gradient index of the lens, and use this to choose shell models that have the same power as the continuous gradient index model. Some types of shell models are described and evaluated.

Humans↗

Useful variations of the Badal Optometer.

The simple Badal Optometer consists of a movable target and a fixed positive power lens placed at its focal distance away from the eye. The perceived angular size of the target is independent of target position and the power scale is linear. Limitations of the simple Badal Optometer include restriction of negative (myopic) ocular vergence range, the need for targets to be small, and the problem of "proximal" accommodation. We describe two modifications to the Badal system in which these limitations may be overcome by the use of a movable auxiliary optical system. In one modification, the movable auxiliary system consists of a target and positive lens which together may provide a virtual "target" for the Badal lens and thus increase the negative range. In the second modification, the Badal lens is positioned as it would normally be, but the target is an image of a distant stimulus created by the auxiliary lens. The target position (and hence the ocular vergence) is changed by moving the auxiliary lens. The distant target eliminates the proximal accommodative stimulus and allows spatial detail near the resolution limit to be displayed.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Aberrations associated with rigid contact lenses.

A rigid contact lens on an eye can produce levels of spherical aberration very different from those produced by a spectacle lens in front of the eye. These levels are considerably affected by contact lens surface asphericity. Change in longitudinal spherical aberration associated with aspherizing a contact lens surface is well predicted by a simple equation for change in sagittal power of the surface. Displacing an aspheric contact lens on the eye can produce considerable defocus, which is well predicted by simple equations for change in sagittal and tangential surface powers. The best refractive correction with contact lenses can be determined only by overrefraction with a patient wearing a contact lens of power and characteristics similar to that which will be prescribed. An aspheric contact lens that moves to a considerable extent on the eye will cause more unstable vision than will a spherical lens that moves to the same extent.

Contact Lenses↗

Accommodation and presbyopia.

The mechanism of accommodation has been studied for at least four hundred years. The most interesting aspect of accommodation is that its time course is well in advance of other physiological functions--it begins to decline by adolescence and is lost about two-thirds of the way through the normal life span. The state of presbyopia is reached when accommodation has declined sufficiently to interfere with close tasks requiring acute vision. Presbyopia is generally considered to originate with the 'plant' of the accommodative system, either within the lens and its capsule or within their support structures. One of the lenticular theories, the Hess-Gullstrand theory, is distinguished from other theories by its claim that as age increases there is an increasing excess amount of ciliary muscle contraction beyond the ability of the lens and capsule to respond to it. For all other theories, the maximum possible amount of ciliary muscle contraction is always necessary to produce maximum accommodation, at least beyond the age at which it reaches its peak. From my review of the present understanding of the mechanisms of accommodation and the theories of the development of presbyopia, I conclude that there is overwhelming evidence against the Hess-Gullstrand theory and that it is unlikely that changes in the ciliary muscle contractility contribute significantly to the development of presbyopia.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Accommodation-convergence relationships and age.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to determine if there are differences in accommodative-convergence/accommodation (AC/A) and convergence-accommodation/convergence (CA/C) ratios in subjects with increasing age. The authors aimed to relate the findings to the present theories of the development of presbyopia. METHODS: Using a Canon AutoRef R-1 to measure accommodation and an IRIS eye movement monitor to measure eye movements, the authors determined objective AC/A and CA/C ratios for 23 subjects between 17 and 42 years of age with normal binocular vision. Changes in accommodation and convergence responses were stimulated by lenses (-1.00 DS and -2.00 DS) and prisms (4 and 8 prism diopters), respectively. Measures were made at two visits on consecutive days. RESULTS: A moderate linear relationship was found between AC/A ratio and age (P < .002), and a strong linear relationship was found between CA/C ratio and age (P < .0001). The decrease in CA/C ratio with age was due to a decreased accommodative response to prisms (P = .0001). Measurements were reliable, with 95% confidence intervals at +/- 1.28 delta/D and +/- 0.02 D/delta for AC/A and CA/C ratios, respectively. A reciprocal relationship existed between the AC/A and CA/C ratios. CONCLUSION: The AC/A ratio increases, and the CA/C ratio decreases, in persons between 20 and 40 years of age. This may be because increasing ciliary muscle contraction is required to produce a given change in accommodation with increasing age or because of changes in the adaptability of the tonic accommodation and vergence systems with age.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Amplitude of accommodation for different head positions and different directions of eye gaze.

One of the theories of the mechanism of presbyopia is the Hess-Gullstrand theory. This theory predicts that amplitude of accommodation should increase in downgaze because of movement of the lens under the influence of gravity, and that this should be more marked for older than for younger subjects. We assessed this theory by measuring the effect of direction of eye gaze and head posture on amplitude of accommodation for two age groups. Farpoints, nearpoints, and amplitude of accommodation were determined for two subject groups, a young group aged 18 to 25 years and an older group aged 35 to 45 years. Small but significant shifts of nearpoints toward the eye were observed when head position or eye gaze was shifted from above to below the horizontal, for the younger observers only (the maximum mean difference between conditions was 1.1 D, compared with a mean accommodation level of 9.8 D for this young group). Previous studies by others found changes in the same direction for eye gaze and head position, respectively, but our changes were much smaller. We do not believe that particular care is needed in selection of head position and eye gaze during clinical measurements of the amplitude of accommodation. Because the shift of the nearpoint was noted only for the younger group, this study does not support the Hess-Gullstrand theory of presbyopia.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Critical subjective measurement of amplitude of accommodation.

The use of fixed print size to measure amplitude of accommodation by the push-up method will result in a range of angular sizes of the print at the nearpoint for patients with different amplitudes. We investigated the effect of this on measured amplitude of accommodation in 60 subjects aged 25 to 45 years. We designed a near-vision chart, based on the Bailey-Lovie near-vision charts, but for which the letter sizes on adjacent lines are varied so that the difference between the inverse of letter sizes is constant (dioptric scale) rather than the geometric ratio between letters on adjacent lines being constant (logarithmic scale). Using this new chart, we compared the amplitudes obtained using N5 print (N5 Blur method) and with two critical methods for which the print of interest was always close to threshold acuity. This was achieved by having patients' attention drawn to a smaller line of letters every time the chart was moved closer in half-diopter steps. The N5 Blur method gave considerably higher amplitude measures than the two critical methods, but the mean differences decreased markedly as age increased: 1.8 to 2.2 D for a 25- to 29-year-old group to 0.7 to 0.8 D for a 40- to 45-year-old group. We believe that the use of fixed size print for measuring amplitude of accommodation by the push-up method gives overestimations that are more marked the higher the amplitude. This occurs because smaller measuring distances that accompany the higher amplitudes will increase angular size and consequently depth-of-focus (in dioptric terms).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Subject instructions and methods of target presentation in accommodation research.

PURPOSE: The authors investigated the potential of subject instructions to alter the static accommodative stimulus-response function. They also investigated whether the reduced cue environment of the Badal optical system leads to accommodative responses different from those that occur for targets presented in real space. METHODS: Static accommodative responses with three focusing instructions were compared to baselines obtained with minimal instruction to stabilize gaze. Static accommodative responses were recorded for targets presented in real space and in a Badal optical system. RESULTS: Individuals differ widely in their responses to Instruction 1 (" ... make no special effort ... "), although some adopt a relatively fixed position of focus. Responses with Instruction 2 (" ... look at the words naturally ... ") and Instruction 3 (" ... carefully focus ... ") are not significantly different from each other, but differ slightly from the responses with the baseline instruction ("pick a word in the middle of the block of text and look at it"). In a sample including most subjects, mean responses for Badal and real space targets are identical. However, it appears that some subjects have difficulty accommodating for Badal targets. CONCLUSIONS: The authors recommend the use of Instructions 2 and 3 for investigation of the static accommodative response, with a number of provisos. Accommodative responses to Badal and real space targets are generally equivalent, but researchers should take care to identify those persons who have difficulties accommodating for Badal targets.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Theoretical effect of refractive error and accommodation on longitudinal chromatic aberration of the human eye.

Simple formulas based on reduced eyes have been developed to predict the variation in longitudinal chromatic aberration with variation in ametropia or accommodation. Two formulas were developed, one for axial ametropia and one for refractive ametropia. The latter also served as a model for accommodation. The results using the formulas are in close agreement with results obtained using raytracing through more sophisticated models. Combining the results of different methods gives the following predictions of change in chromatic difference of focus, between wavelengths of 400 and 700 nm, with change in each diopter of refractive error or accommodation: axial ametropia 0.012 to 0.017 D (0.6 to 0.9%), refractive ametropia 0.05 D (2.2 to 2.4%), and accommodation 0.04 to 0.05 D (2.1 to 2.6%). The chromatic aberration effects of correcting lenses with low dispersion are intermediate in effect and opposite in sign to the effects of corresponding degrees of axial ametropia and refractive ametropia.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Diffractive properties of the Diffrax bifocal contact lens.

We have verified that the Pilkington Diffrax lens behaves optically as a diffractive bifocal contact lens. The longitudinal chromatic aberration of the lens is similar to that predicted by theory, both on and off the eye. The over-refraction with the lens on the eye is similar to the distance subjective refraction, which is also as predicted.

Contact Lenses↗

Off-axis measurements of a plano distance power progressive addition lens.

To test that the Humphrey Lens Analyzer can be used validly to measure off-axis powers of progressive addition lenses of low distance power, we made measurements of a plano distance progressive power lens with both a conventional focimeter and the Humphrey Lens Analyzer. The use of the Humphrey Lens Analyzer in two modes, one in which the lens rotated about a point corresponding to the centre-of-rotation of the eye (mode 1) and one in which the lens rotated about its back surface centre of curvature (mode 2), gave off-axis power measurements which were similar to those of conventional measurements. In addition, the Humphrey Lens Analyzer in mode 1 gave prism measurements which were similar to conventional measurements. The Humphrey Lens Analyzer in mode 2 gave prism measurements which were less than those of conventional measurements, but the prism contours were similar and the differences were < 1 delta within 20 mm of the lens centre.

Eyeglasses↗

Sensitivity of off-axis performance of aspheric spectacle lenses to tilt and decentration.

Apparatus was modified to measure, and theoretical raytracing was used to predict, off-axis powers of spectacle lenses in the presence of tilt or decentration. In response to poor fitting in the form of tilt or decentration, lenses with aspheric front surfaces were found to have greater off-axis power errors than best-form lenses with spherical surfaces. This is attributable to the aspheric lenses having flatter surfaces than the spherical lenses. The errors are up to twice those occurring for the spherical lenses, and can be quite high, e.g. 0.9 D astigmatism for +6D power with 10 degrees tilt in 20 degrees upgaze. Negative lenses are more sensitive to poor fitting than are positive lenses of the same power. The errors for straight ahead vision associated with tilt are approximately proportional to the square of the angle of tilt, and the errors for straight ahead vision associated with decentration are approximately proportional to the square of decentration. It is most important that aspheric lenses be correctly fitted, which means that each 2 degrees of pantascopic tilt should be accompanied by approximately 1 mm decentration.

Eyeglasses↗