INFLUENCE OF THE SCLERAL LENS AND FLUID RESERVOIR THICKNESSES ON RESIDUAL ASTIGMATISM

PurposeThis study aims to determine if lens or tear fluid reservoir thicknesses (LT/FRT) may influence the presence of residual astigmatism and participant’s visual acuity. MethodsThe study was a randomized, non-dispensing, prospective study. Empirically and randomly chosen participants were fitted with 4 combinations (350 and 250 um LT fitted with 250 and 350 um FRT) of 16 mm diameter scleral lenses, designed using a corneo-scleral profiler software (sMap 3D, Visionary Optics, US). Lenses haptics were kept spherical for all lenses. They were evaluated under a slit lamp, anterior segement OCT (objective fluid reservoir and lens thicknesses), topography over lenses and aberrometry, after 30 minutes of lens wear. Spherico-cylindrical refraction and logMar acuity were also assessed. ResultsStudy population was composed of 24 participants aged 24.2 + 4.7 years old. Baseline refractive error was -2.3 + 1.6 D with -0.48 + 0.26 D of astigmatism. In vivo (OCT) lens A was 344.1 ± 15.4 um thick, fitted with a vault of 213.6 ± 42.4 um; Lens B was 346.2 ± 12.5/327.2 ± 44.8; Lens C was 260.3 ± 17.7/214.0 ± 40.6 um and Lens D was 262.2 ±13.2/330.8 ± 52.0 respectively. All lenses were found similarly decentered inferiorly by 0.10 to 0.15 um. BCVA was −0.32 + 0.08 (A), −0.21 + 0.10 (B), −0.28 + 0.08 (C), and −0.14 + 0.10 (D), compared to −0.25 + 0.08 (A), −0.11 + 0.10 (B), −0.23 + 0.06 (C), and −0.05 + 0.12 (D) when sphere only was compensated. Residual refractive astigmatism (RA = -0.50 to -0.75D) is found significantly higher based on the FRT (F=9.560; p=0.037) and not LT(F=0.429; p=0.522). There is no correlation be-tween RA and over-k readings (Lens A r=-0.078, p=0.773; Lens B r=−0.073, p=0.788; Lens C r=−0.345, p=0.171; Lend D r=0.019, p=0.944). Higher order aberrations, mostly vertical coma, were found clinically significant but not statistically different between lenses (A= 0.350 + 0.032; B=0.382 + 0.053, C=0.329 + 0.044 and D=0.385+ 0.062; p=0.776) ConclusionThis study proves that low level of RA may be found when scleral lenses are fitted on normal corneas. Its occurrence is related to the presence of high-order aberrations and less likely to lens flexure.

Gradiate: a radial sweep approach to measuring detailed contrast sensitivity functions from eye movements

The contrast sensitivity function (CSF) is an informative measure of visual health, but the practical difficulty of measuring it has impeded detailed analyses of its relationship to different visual disorders. Furthermore, most existing tasks cannot be used in populations with cognitive impairment. We analyzed detailed CSFs measured with a non-verbal procedure called “Gradiate”, which efficiently infers visibility from eye movements and manipulates stimulus appearance in real time. Sixty observers of varying age (38 with refractive error) were presented with moving stimuli. Stimulus spatial frequency and contrast advanced along fifteen radial sweeps through CSF space in response to stimulus-congruent eye movements. A point on the CSF was recorded when tracking ceased. Gradiate CSFs were reliable and in high agreement with independent low contrast acuity thresholds. Overall CSF variation was largely captured by two orthogonal factors (“radius” and “slope”), or two orthogonal shape factors when size was normalized (“aspect ratio” and “curvature”). CSF radius was highly predictive of LogMAR acuity, as were aspect ratio and curvature together, but only radius was predictive of observer age. Our findings suggest that Gradiate holds promise for assessing spatial vision in both verbal and non-verbal populations and indicate that variation between detailed CSFs can reveal useful information about visual health.

Screening efficacy of a simplified logMAR chart

Background: Snellen acuity charts are the most commonly used method for visual acuity (VA) testing in screening programmes despite comparative studies verifying that the logarithm of minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) acuity measurement charts are more accurate than the Snellen chart acuity measurements. LogMAR acuity measurement charts however are not well implemented in routine clinical practice because of the increased testing time and the complexity of scoring. To implement the logMAR method in a screening programme, there has to be some simplification of it.Aim: This study evaluates the efficacy of a simplified logMAR chart, designed for VA testing over the conventional Snellen chart, in a school-based vision-screening programme.Methods: We designed a simplified logMAR chart by employing the principles of the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) chart in terms of logarithmic letter size progression, inter-letter spacing, and inter-line spacing. Once the simplified logMAR chart was validated by students in the Elite school vision-screening programme, we set out to test the chart in 88 primary and middle schools in the Tiruporur block of Kancheepuram district in Tamil Nadu. One school teacher in each school was trained to screen a cross-sectional population of 10 354 primary and secondary school children (girls: 5488; boys: 4866) for VA deficits using a new, simplified logMAR algorithm. An experienced paediatric optometrist was recruited to validate the screening methods and technique used by the teachers to collect the data. Results: The optometrist screened a subset of 1300 school children from the total sample. The optometrist provided the professional insights needed to validate the clinical efficacy of the simplified logMAR algorithm and verified the reliability of the data collected by the teachers. The mean age of children sampled for validation was 8.6 years (range: 9–14 years). The sensitivity and the specificity of the simplified logMAR chart when compared to the standard logMAR chart were found to be 95% and 98%, respectively. Kappa value was 0.97. Sensitivity of the teachers’ screening was 66.63% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 52.73–77.02) and the specificity was 98.33% (95% CI: 97.49–98.95). Testing of VA was done under substandard illumination levels in 87% of the population. A total of 10 354 children were screened, 425 of whom were found to have some form of visual and/or ocular defect that was identified by the teacher or optometrist.Conclusion: The simplified logMAR testing algorithm proved to be less time consuming than the standard logMAR test. This suggests that the simplified logMAR chart is effective in vision-screening programmes and would be a reliable alternative to the standard logMAR chart and therefore replace the use of Snellen chart acuity tests in vision-screening programmes. The study also showed that non-healthcare providers, such as teachers, can reliably administer the simplified logMAR test.Keywords: vision screening; school children; vision screening standards; screening reliability