Interferometric measurements of fine corneal topography

摘要

The cornea is the most refractive element in the eye. Its refractive power is about 70% of the power of the whole eye. The shape of the cornea is aspheric, and almost always has no rotational symmetry. Even small surface irregularities can cause a perceptible reduction in visual acuity. Standard methods for evaluation of the corneal topography used in clinical practice include keratometry, photokeratoscopy, and computer assisted videokeratography. All of these methods used the principles of geometrical optics, and their accuracy is about 0.25 D. An application of interference phenomenon's to examine the corneal contour map significantly increase the accuracy. Using the interferometric inspection of the corneal shape one can easily observe the fine corneal topography, the fast, dynamic changes of the corneal surface, and the topology of the tear film and its irregularities. The paper presents the Twyman Green interferometer, used in experiments, an example of sequence of interferograms and their 3D presentations.