Biomedical subjects

T W Raasch

Publications and source records attributed to T W Raasch.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1995

Spherocylindrical refractive errors and visual acuity.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the relation between refractive error and visual acuity is complicated if astigmatic blur is present. No models are in widespread use that allow the combination of spherical and astigmatic errors for the purpose of predicting visual performance. METHODS: Models for combining spherical and astigmatic errors are discussed, and predictions of these models using data from the literature are presented. RESULTS: Three models for combining astigmatic with spherical errors are shown to predict visual acuity performance in uncorrected myopic refractive errors. A dioptric vector addition model is shown to have advantages over other candidate models. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to combine spherocylindrical refractive errors into a single value when the objective is to correlate these values with visual acuity performance.

Eyeglasses↗

PubMed1991

Human electroretinogram responses to video displays, fluorescent lighting, and other high frequency sources.

Time-averaged human electroretinogram (ERG) responses were determined for several workplace visual stimuli which are temporally modulated at rates exceeding the perceptual critical fusion frequency (CFF). A clearly identifiable synchronous response was in evidence for a video display terminal (VDT) stimulus operating with a refresh rate as high as 76 Hz. A directly viewed fluorescent luminaire with controllable driving frequency elicited a synchronous response at rates as high as 145 Hz. In addition, an intense stimulus created by modulating the light from a slide projector produced responses at least as high as 162 Hz. The implications of these high-frequency responses are representing a potential basis for visual symptoms are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Visual performance at video display terminals--effects of screen color and illuminant type.

A limited set of illuminants and phosphor colors are commonly used in video display terminal (VDT) working environments. This study attempts to identify any combinations of such conditions that influence performance on a visually demanding counting task. Experiments were performed to test whether the phosphor color, ambient lighting spectrum, or temporal frequency characteristics of the display and ambient lighting could alter performance. Under conditions where potentially contaminating variables such as reflectance level and screen glare patterns were equalized, no significant differences in performance were produced by the particular sets of stimulus conditions tested. The results suggest that displays and illuminant types that are in common use allow substantially equivalent visual performance.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Clinical grading and the effects of scaling.

In clinical practice, there has been a need to grade the magnitude or the severity of the functions and qualities that are assessed in the examination. It is popular to use a four-step grading scale to categorize the severity of clinical findings. The authors discuss clinical grading scales and their influence on the clinician's ability to detect change. These principles have been applied to grades or measures derived from either objective measuring instruments, subjective tests, or techniques in which the clinician makes subjective judgments. A hypothetical data set was used to show the problems associated with using grading scales that are too coarse. The authors presented a mathematic model that helps to estimate the benefits of using use of a finer scale. Data were presented from two separate studies, one on visual acuity measurement and the other on grading nuclear opacity, to show the advantages of using finer scales to enhance the sensitivity of clinical measurement. High levels of concordance between independent observations indicated that the grading scale was too coarse and that these scales needlessly reduced the clinician's ability to detect change in the parameter being assessed. For moderate sensitivity, the size of the scale increments should not exceed one standard deviation of the discrepancy so that the concordance of paired comparisons would not exceed 37%. For fine clinical sensitivity, the size of the scale increments should not exceed one third of the standard deviation of the discrepancy, in which case the concordance of paired comparisons would not exceed 13%. The theory and evidence presented here could prompt re-evaluations of common methods of clinical grading.

Cataract↗

PubMed1984

Visual acuity and chart luminance.

It is desirable to standardize the conditions under which visual acuity is measured because of its importance in determining whether subjects meet occupational vision standards and as an indicator of the extent or stability of pathological conditions. The chart luminance is one parameter which needs to be standardized, and the effect of the luminance level upon acuity measurement is a critical factor in this determination. These data are measured for a subject population using Landolt rings and British letters. Over a "normal" photopic range of 40 to 600 cd/m2 the relation between the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (log MAR)) and log L (luminance) can be approximated by a straight line. A doubling of the luminance level within this range improves the acuity measurement by approximately one letter on a five-letter row. Landolt ring acuities are less affected by luminance than letter acuities. The application of these results to establishing a standardized luminance level and tolerance range is discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

Bioptic low vision aid: a simple approach.

This report describes the design of a variable focus telescopic system for a low vision patient who wanted to be able to see at numerous fixed working distances. A simple and effective means of mounting the telescope onto an existing spectacle lens is described. The discussion presents an analysis of the optical principles used and a formula for determining the equivalent power of a nearpoint telescope.

Adult↗