Variable Power Phoropter

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability to measure and correct aberrations of the eye has rapidly evolved in recent years. Customized refractive surgery is the most mature platform for providing higher- order correction. However, other technologies such as wavefront-guided spectacle lenses, custom contact lenses and writable intraocular lenses are all finding their way out of the laboratory and into patients. Even aspheric intraocular lenses that partially correct the eye's spherical aberration have recently found broad acceptance among cataract surgeons. Each of these technologies would benefit from a non-invasive means of demonstrating the potential of aberration correction to the patient. This strategy is currently employed in the refractive surgery arena, but an expensive excimer laser is required to create the demonstration correction. Adaptive optics (AO) phoropters have been demonstrated in research laboratories and systems based on reflective AO systems are starting to emerge. However, these systems suffer from several drawbacks. For large, continuous membrane mirrors, the magnification of the AO phoropter is quite large, consequently requiring a large platform. Significant work has been done to create compact integrated reflective AO devices. However, due to their reflective nature, the optical path still remains somewhat long and the field of view of a test target is limited. A transmissive AO device would be ideal for an adaptive optics phoropter. User could view real-world targets directly though the transmissive devices. Furthermore, the transmissive AO devices eliminate the need for pupil relay optics and consequently provide a large field of view. Unfortunately, the progress in these devices has lagged behind their reflective counterparts. Currently pixelated transmissive adaptive optics devices exist, but the devices are both polarization sensitive and tend to have low transmission. Furthermore, these devices have limited capability in correctly typically levels of spherical and cylindrical refractive error. Large corrections require phase wrapping which adds a strong wavelength dependence to the devices. We propose to integrate a wavefront sensor and a new variable power liquid lens to create a continuously variable phoropter. This proposed phoropter will have continuous spherical power adjustment along with variable crossed cylinder powers. In addition, the integrated wavefront will have the ability to measure residual aberrations of the eye/liquid lens combination. While this current phase only seeks to implement only the continuous spherical and cylindrical power correction, our long-term goal is to add a pixelated transmissive AO device this platform to create an automated phoropter. The resultant system would correct a wide range of low order aberrations with liquid lenses and the residual higher order aberrations with a AO device. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: A Variable Power Phoropter would benefit public health by providing a means of demonstrating the potential benefits of aberration correction. The device operates in a manner similar to a conventional phoropter, but has the added capability of correcting all or a portion of the eye's aberrations. Applications include illustrating benefits of refractive surgery, custom contact and spectacle lenses, as well as aspheric and writable intraocular lenses. Based on the visualization provided by the adaptive optics phoropter patients can make an educated choice whether conventional or customized correction is warranted.