Retinal image quality for virtual eyes generated by a statistical model of ocular wavefront aberrations

A statistical model of the aberration structure of normal, well‐corrected eyes was developed previously (Opthal. Physiol. Opt22, 427–433, 2002.) from wavefront aberrations measured for 100 normal eyes (J. Opt. Soc. Am. A.19, 2329–2348, 2002.). The model is capable of generating an unlimited number of wavefront aberration functions for virtual eyes drawn randomly from a multivariate Gaussian distribution of Zernike aberration coefficients. This report provides evidence that monochromatic retinal image quality in virtual eyes, as quantified by 31 different image quality metrics (J. Vis.4, 329–351, 2004.), is representative of human eyes but slightly exaggerates the degradation of the retinal image caused by ocular aberrations. A demonstration program for producing virtual eyes is included as an Appendix to this paper.

[1]  J. Goodman.  Introduction to Fourier optics , 1969 .

[2]  A. Bradley,et al.  Accuracy and precision of objective refraction from wavefront aberrations. , 2004, Journal of vision.

[3]  A. Bradley,et al.  Predicting subjective judgment of best focus with objective image quality metrics. , 2004, Journal of vision.

[4]  Carl Paterson,et al.  Correcting the ocular aberrations of a healthy adult population using microelectromechanical (MEMS) deformable mirrors , 2007 .

[5]  E. Sabadini,et al.  Vortex breakdown produced in a cylindrical rotating end wall , 2001 .

[6]  Larry N Thibos,et al.  Measuring visual acuity--mesopic or photopic conditions, and high or low contrast letters? , 2004, Journal of refractive surgery.

[7]  Arthur Bradley,et al.  A statistical model of the aberration structure of normal, well‐corrected eyes , 2002, Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians.

[8]  George Smith,et al.  Invited Review Schematic eyes: history, description and applications , 1995 .

[9]  Larry N Thibos,et al.  Metrics of Retinal Image Quality Predict Visual Performance in Eyes With 20/17 or Better Visual Acuity , 2006, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[10]  Larry N Thibos,et al.  Metrics of optical quality derived from wave aberrations predict visual performance. , 2004, Journal of vision.

[11]  Eugenie Dalimier,et al.  Comparative analysis of deformable mirrors for ocular adaptive optics. , 2005, Optics express.

[12]  A. Bradley,et al.  Statistical variation of aberration structure and image quality in a normal population of healthy eyes. , 2002, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.