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Automated contrast sensitivity test detects false-positives

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WASHINGTON — The Holladay Automated Contrast Sensitivity System detects false positive tests, a common occurrence undetected in traditional contrast sensitivity tests, according to the system’s developer.

“Most contrast sensitivity tests, like charts, have vertical linear gratings that tend to detect astigmatism and horizontal coma in patients with little to no error,” said Jack T. Holladay, MD, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting. He discussed the Holladay Automated Contrast Sensitivity System (HACSS), a contrast sensitivity test he developed with M&S Technologies.

“The HACSS has a reliability index that detects the percentage of false positives rates, from 0 to 100%,” Dr. Holladay said.

Unlike traditional contrast sensitivity tests that are technician dependent, the HACSS system is automated. The patient sits 12 ft away from a calibrated monitor attached to the HACSS computer system. Room lighting is kept constant for optimum testing conditions, Dr. Holladay noted.

During the 10-minute test, the monitor flashes sinusoidal bull’s-eye images or gray discs in 10-second timed increments, to allow the patient’s photoreceptors time to “refresh” before a next image is presented. Test subjects select buttons on a keypad to identify the images they see. Within 10 minutes, the test is completed.

The HACSS is currently undergoing study under Food and Drug Administration guidelines, Dr. Holladay said. Study outcomes will be released in June, he said.