Imaging, reconstruction, and display of corneal topography

The cornea is the major refractive element in the eye; even minor surface distortions can produce a significant reduction in visual acuity. Standard clinical methods used to evaluate corneal shape include keratometry, which assumes the cornea is ellipsoidal in shape, and photokeratoscopy, which images a series of concentric light rings on the corneal surface. These methods fail to document many of the corneal distortions that can degrade visual acuity. Algorithms have been developed to reconstruct the three dimensional shape of the cornea from keratoscope images, and to present these data in the clinically useful display of color-coded contour maps of corneal surface power. This approach has been implemented on a new generation video keratoscope system (Computed Anatomy, Inc.) with rapid automatic digitization of the image rings by a rule-based approach. The system has found clinical use in the early diagnosis of corneal shape anomalies such as keratoconus and contact lens-induced corneal warpage, in the evaluation of cataract and corneal transplant procedures, and in the assessment of corneal refractive surgical procedures. Currently, ray tracing techniques are being used to correlate corneal surface topography with potential visual acuity in an effort to more fully understand the tolerances of corneal shape consistent with good vision and to help determine the site of dysfunction in the visually impaired.