Modeling the power of the aging human eye.
A hypothesis is presented that may explain why the aging eye does not become myopic with age. The power of the eye lens is predicted with a modeling approach to determine how the form of the refractive-index gradient within the lens can change to maintain a constant power in spite of age-related curvature increase. Methods used include published age-dependent data on the optical parameters of the eye, a mathematical model of the lens based on elliptical isoindicial contours, and a refractive-index profile that can be expressed as a power series in the distance from the lens center. The kinds of change in profile required to prevent the eye from becoming myopic as its lens grows are shown.
Smith
G
G
Department of Optometry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
Atchison
D A
DA
Pierscionek
B K
BK
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000867:Anterior Chamber / Q000502:physiology; D003315:Cornea / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000502:physiology*; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological; D009216:Myopia / Q000503:physiopathology; D012029:Refraction, Ocular; D012031:Refractometry