Wavefront Optics and

Aberrometry
Instructor: Dr Arooba Ehsan
Vision Sciences-II
What are Aberrations?

These are deviations from the ideal optical performance. They can be classified into:
•Lower-order aberrations: Simple refractive errors like myopia and hyperopia.
•Higher-order aberrations: More complex distortions that can affect contrast sensitivity and night vision.
Low Order Aberrations
These are simpler, more common types of aberrations that can typically be corrected with standard
refractive procedures or lenses. They include:
1. Myopia (Nearsightedness): Distant objects appear blurry because the light focuses in front of the
retina.
2. Hyperopia (Farsightedness): Near objects are blurry because the light focuses behind the retina.
3. Astigmatism: Caused by an irregular curvature of the cornea or lens, leading to blurred vision at
all distances.
4. Presbyopia: The gradual loss of the eye's ability to focus on nearby objects, often associated with
aging.
High order Aberrations
• It includes:
• Spherical aberrations
• Oblique aberrations
• Coma
• Trefoil: a star shaped aberration that affect image clarity and sharpness
Causes of Aberrations
• Irregularities in corneal shape or thickness
• Lens opacity
• Eye surgery like LASIK can induce high order aberrations
• Natural variation: every eye has its unique characteristics, leading to
individual variations in how light is refracted back form the structures.
Why wavefront Aberrometry was
needed?
• Diagnosing the degree of vision impairment is a difficult
task for even experienced optometrists, since it
depends on the subjective response of the person
tested. Normally, it is based on reading out or
describing letters or shapes on an eye chart. In many
cases the person may not actually be reading out the
letter seen, but the letter thought to be seen.
• A solution has been developed for this issue, which is
known as wavefront aberrometry.
What is it?
• Wavefront aberrometry is an objective method of measuring
refractive power, using a tool to measure the manner in which a
light beam moves through the tested eye.
• It offers detailed measurements of the movement of the light
wavefront.
• In this way it can be used in the diagnosis of both higher-order
and lower-order refractive errors.
• In addition, the technique is useful as a guide in making of
spectacles and contact lenses to offer sharper and clearer vision.
Purpose
• Wavefront aberrometry is an advanced diagnostic technique used
primarily in ophthalmology to measure how light waves are distorted
as they pass through the eye. This technique creates a detailed map
of the eye's optical system, identifying imperfections that can affect
vision quality, such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and higher-
order aberrations such as glare, halos or star like distortion.
• The device used for this test is called Wavefront Aberrometer.
Mechanism of work
• It shines a low-intensity laser or light source into the eye. As the light
travels back out, the wavefront is captured by a sensor, allowing for
precise measurement of any aberrations. The sensor is known as
Wavefront sensor. This sensor act as detector in the aberrometer to
detect low and high order aberrations. It measures the distortions in
the light waves as it passes through the optical structures of the eye.
Procedure
1. Light Projection: light source like laser or infrared light is projected into
the eye, passes through the cornea, lens and other ocular structures
and reflects off the retina.
2. Wavefront distortions: as the light passes back through the eye, any
optical aberrations in the cornea, lens or other parts of eye cause
distortions in the wavefront.
3. Wavefront Sensor (Hartmann-Shack sensor): The returning light is
captured by sensor.It is a device used to measure the distortions, It
detects how the wavefront is distorted by these imperfections.
If the eyes are optically perfect then light would form a perfectly aligned
array of points on the sensor.
• Lenslet array: It is a Crucial component of wavefront aberrometer
that works in association with Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor. It’s
a grid of matrix of small lenses(called lenslets) which are arranged in
symmetric pattern.
• Each lenslet focuses the light passing through it onto a detector or
sensor behind it.
• However, distortions (aberrations) cause the light spots to shift from
their ideal positions.
4. Analysis: The aberrometer analyzes these deviations, allowing the
system to create a detailed map of the eye’s aberrations also called a
wavefront map.
The data from the wavefront aberrometer generates a highly detailed
map called Aberration map or wavefront map which shows us that how
the light is distorted in different regions of the eye.
It shows where and how much the light is distorted, helping to
diagnose and correct various vision problems.
Setting:
• Commonly, the person places the chin on a chin rest
built into the aberrometer and looks into the instrument
at a spot of light. The light passes through the pupil and
is reflected back by the retina. The wavefront of the
reflected beam is recorded and compared to that of the
reference wavefront. All the points of variation are
recorded and measured, creating in turn an optical
fingerprint or map.
Applications
• Diagnosis of Lower order aberrations like myopia, hypermetropia
• Myopia causes the wavefront to focus light infront of retina, howver in HM,
causes the wavefront to focus the light behind retina.
• However, in astigmatism, causes irregular distortions in different meridians.
• Diagnosis of High order aberrations: like oblique aberrations is measured
accurately by assessing Wavefront map that is generated by aberrometry. It
helps in the design of corrective lenses or refractive surgeries ensuring that
treatment addresss all types of aberrations, improving overall visual
performance.
• Customized wavefront guided LASIK surgery: it allows to address high order
aberrations providing sharper vision.
• Cataract surgery can also be assisted with wavefront technology
allows us to better plan the placement of intraocular lens.
• Customized contact lenses utilizing the technique of wavefront
aberrometry can correct more complex vision problems.
• Guided Surgical Procedures: allows us the better understanding of
eye’s optical axis which is critical in procedures like LASIK, IOL fitting,
as our aim is to restore the light focus along optical axis.
• As, we all know that light entering along the optical axis is generally
focused directly on the retina, providing clear vision. Distortions occur
when light rays enter obliquely or away from optical axis.