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Study: Lens compensates for spherical aberrations as it ages
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A study recently published in Optometry & Vision Science showed that spherical aberration in the cornea increases with age at a rate similar to the total spherical aberration of the eye.
Navarro and colleagues used Scheimpflug imaging to evaluate 407 eyes of 211 subjects 4 to 79 years old for changes in the surface and optical properties of the cornea as a function of age.
The researchers analyzed the data by fitting the subjects’ elevation topographies to a general surface model and computing the position and orientation of the model to determine the orientation of the optical axis and apex coordinates.
They concluded that average corneal surfaces are misaligned general aspheres and also that corneal spherical aberration is higher than total spherical aberration but that both increase at a similar rate as the eye ages.
“This confirms that the lens is partially compensating spherical aberration and that such compensation is preserved with aging,” the authors wrote.
They added that misalignment and solid body rotation appeared to reduce astigmatism and coma for young and middle-aged subjects.