Source:BioOptics World

As more therapies become available, doctors increasingly wish to identify diseases as early as possible and monitor their initial stages in order to address them appropriately. In the case of eye maladies such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), they need to watch the retina so they can time the treatment properly.

FIGURE 1. Images of the pupil (above) and wavefront (below) obtained with the Shack-Hartmann sensor (left) and with a digital wavefront camera (right) demonstrate a significant difference in resolution. Click here to enlarge image

Achieving this goal requires imaging the retina at the highest possible resolution. Because diffraction imposed by the iris's diameter determines maximum image resolution, getting the best result with iris diameters greater than 3 mm necessitates a highly capable aberrometer. An aberrometer, which passes light through the eye and then measures that light as it exits the eye, is the tool an ophthalmologist uses to measure wavefront-the change in shape of the front of the light waves as they exit the cornea. A very capable aberrometer can produce highly resolved 3D images of both the wavefront and the intensity of the light coming out of the eye-with superior dynamic range and in real time. Ophthalmic aberrometry relies on wavefront sensing technologies to enable not only early disease diagnosis and monitoring, but also treatment such as corrective lens prescription or LASIK surgery to improve visual acuity. To read more, click here.