Purkinje imaging system to measure anterior segment scattering in the human eye

• Published in: Optics letters 2007-12, Vol.32 (23), p.3447-3449
• Main Authors: BUENO, Juan M, DE BROUWERE, Dirk, GINIS, Harilaos, SGOUROS, Ioannis, ARTAL, Pablo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anterior Eye Segment; Biological and medical sciences; Contact Lenses; Exact sciences and technology; Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision; Eye, Artificial; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); General aspects, investigation technics, apparatus; Humans; Image forming and processing; Imaging and optical processing; Light; Ocular Physiological Phenomena; Optics; Physics; Retina; Scattering, Radiation; Tissues, organs and organisms biophysics; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
• ISSN: 0146-9592; 1539-4794
• DOI: 10.1364/OL.32.003447

We present an instrument based on Purkinje imaging that permits the objective measurement of the amount of scattering associated with the eye's anterior segment, avoiding the contribution from the retina. The experimental system records the fourth Purkinje image, and adequate processing is used to compute a parameter that quantifies the scattering. The method was first tested in an artificial eye and later in normal young eyes wearing customized contact lenses that induced different amounts of scatter. We were able to detect scattering increments, which indicates that this technique may be used as an objective tool to quantify the level of scattering in the anterior segment of the living human eye. The future use of this technique in clinical environments might help to estimate the level of corneal haze in eyes undergoing refractive surgery or/and scattering within the lens during cataract development.