Chapter 13

Optical Eye Modeling

and Applications

Ying-Ling Chen , Bo Tan ,†, Lei Shi ,

J.W.L. Lewis‡ and Ming Wang§

13.1. Introduction to Optical Eye Modeling

In recent years, ocular optics has advanced dramatically in three areas. First, the developing interest in the study of disease progression in addition to the emmetropization in the growing eyes has resulted in the demand for more accurate and noninvasive measurement methods. Second, advances in optical detector and analysis technologies have resulted in instruments with increased accuracy for the measurement of essential parameters of the physiological optical system. Third, dramatic improvements in computational capability have enabled more complex and accurate optical computations and simulations of the eye. The high precision, ophthalmic patient data (including ocular element biometry), topographies of the corneal surfaces, and ocular wavefront aberrations (WFAs) can be incorporated into the computational construction of a personal-tailored, optically functional, and analytical eye model. The results are eye models that render the exact clinical measure and optical performance of the eye. Customized eye modeling may assist in the planning of ocular surgeries, such as LASIK, PRK, CK, and Intacs, and in the design of personalized spectacles and contact or

University of Tennessee Space Institute, Tullahoma, TN 37388.

†University of California at Berkeley, School of Optometry, CA 9472.

‡E-Vision Technologies, Inc. Tullahoma, TN 37388. §Wang Vision Institute, Nashville, TN 37203.

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