J. K. Ijspeert

The intraocular straylight function in 129 healthy volunteers; Dependence on angle, age and pigmentation

The direct compensation method allows for an accurate (standard deviation below 0.05 log unit) determination of intraocular light scattering between 3.5 and 25 deg of scattering angle and is suitable for untrained subjects. The method was used to study population behaviour and individual variation in 129 volunteers between 20 and 82 yr of age, visual acuity equal to or better than one and no apparent eye pathology. The results indicate straylight to increase with the 4th power of age, doubling at 70. In addition to the age dependence, there was great variation between individuals. Part of this is due to negative correlation with pigmentation.

Dependence of intraocular straylight on pigmentation and light transmission through the ocular wall

The straylight function of the human eye depends on eye color, especially at larger angles of scattering. As a potential cause for this dependence, transmission of light through the ocular wall was measured, using a psychophysical method. For a light-blue eye effective transmission of the iris was 1% for red and 0.2% for green light. Also the eyewall around the iris transmits a significant amount of light. For the dark-brown eyes of pigmented individuals transmission is lower by two orders of magnitude. Although important, transmission proved to be only partly responsible for the pigmentation dependence, the other cause probably being reflection from the fundus.

Light scattering in donor lenses

Light scattering for normal and cataractous lenses from 21-86 yr old donors was measured in vitro. As expected, scattering increased with severity of cataract. Scattering decreased with angle according to a power law. This corresponded to the power law finding for functional straylight measurements in early-cataract patients using white light (power around -2). In vitro, straylight increased monotonically from 700 nm (power around -2.3) towards 400 nm (power around -2.0). For extreme cataracts the angular dependence flattened at small angles. The present results suggest that the structures dominating in light scattering differ not by scattering type but by number, and that they are not very small compared to wavelength. The present results were used to specify the separate effects of light absorption and light scattering on lenticular light transmission.

Clinical assessment of intraocular stray light

A device that measures intraocular stray light for clinical use in, e.g., cataract evaluation by using the psychophysical direct compensation approach is described and evaluated.

An improved mathematical description of the foveal visual point spread function with parameters for age, pupil size and pigmentation

An analytical description of the point spread function (PSF) for human foveal vision, together with its closed form two-dimensional Fourier transform, the modulation transfer function (MTF), is proposed. It also possesses an analytical line spread function (LSF) counterpart. It fits to both PSF and MTF experimental data and holds over the full angular and spatial frequency domain. Variation in the PSF and MTF descriptions with pupil size, age and iris/skin pigmentation are accounted for by analytical expressions in the parameters.

Stray Light in Radial Keratotomy and the Influence of Pupil Size and Straylight Angle

Glare is a major sequela of the radial keratotomy procedure. We used the straylight meter to measure intraocular light scatter, which is the cause of glare, in eyes after radial keratotomy. This apparatus uses a direct compensation method to assess the amount of intraocular light scatter. Nineteen patients were tested. Nine individuals served as controls. The mean postsurgery time was 60 months. The influence of the number of radial incisions, the pupil size, and the angle of light entering the eye were evaluated with the straylight meter. The results showed straylight values for normal pupil size (mean, 4 mm) to be statistically significantly higher (P = .0044) only for the smallest angle of light deflection studied (3.5 degrees). For dilated pupils (mean, 8 mm), straylight values were statistically significantly higher (P = .00005) for all three angles of light deflection studied. The number of incisions showed no statistically significant relationship to straylight values. Average stray light values were increased by a factor of 1.4 for 4-mm sized pupils and 2.0 for 8-mm sized pupils. There was an overlap in straylight values between the patient population and the control population.

Functional quantification of diaphany

Intraocular straylight can be measured, in clinical as well as normal cases, by the direct compensation technique. Intraocular straylight is known to originate from the cornea, lens and fundus. We have studied a fourth source: the translucency of the iris and surrounding ocular wall. For lightly-pigmented normal eyes this source proved to be important. In the present paper results are reported from a patient with X-linked megalocornea. He had diaphany of the iris, as is common in these patients, and photophobic complaints. Quantitative measurements showed that the translucency was much increased so that the intraocular straylight was far above the normal level.

Design of a portable straylight meter

A portable device to psychophysically measure intraocular straylight using the direct compensation principle was designed and produced. The design parameters are presented, with a discussion on how they were decided upon. The measurement procedure is also discussed.

Retinal contrast loss with non-monofocal IOLs

Non-monofocal IOLs are designed to give simultaneously sharp images of distant and near objects. This is achieved by means of different focal distances for various portions of the light reaching the eye. As a result, for any given object, one part of the light will be properly focused, while another part is out of focus. This results in a sharp image superposed on a blurred image, causing contrast loss. The retinal contrast loss as a function of spatial frequency is derived in this paper.