title: Heterochromatic Flicker Photometry for Objective Lens Density Quantification.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although several methods have been proposed to evaluate lens transmittance, to date there is no consensual in vivo approach in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to compare ocular lens density and transmittance measurements obtained by an improved psychophysical scotopic heterochromatic flicker photometry (sHFP) technique to the results obtained by three other measures: a psychophysical threshold technique, a Scheimpflug imaging technique, and a clinical assessment using a validated subjective scale.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-three subjects (18 young, 9 middle aged, and 16 older) were included in the study. Individual lens densities were measured and transmittance curves were derived from sHFP indexes. Ocular lens densities were compared across methods by using linear regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The four approaches showed a quadratic increase in lens opacification with age. The sHFP technique revealed that transmittance decreased with age over the entire visual spectrum. This decrease was particularly pronounced between young and older participants in the short (53.03% decrease in the 400-500 nm range) wavelength regions of the light spectrum. Lens density derived from sHFP highly correlated with the values obtained with the other approaches. Compared to other objective measures, sHFP also showed the lowest variability and the best fit with a quadratic trend (r2 = 0.71) of lens density increase as a function of age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The sHFP technique offers a practical, reliable, and accurate method to measure lens density in vivo and predict lens transmittance over the visible spectrum. An accurate quantification of lens transmittance should be obtained in clinical practice, but also in research in visual and nonvisual photoreception.
authors.affiliation: Inserm U1208, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Bron, France 2University of Lyon, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France 3Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States 4Mental Illn.
authors.forename: Raymond P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Najjar
authors.affiliation: Inserm U1208, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Bron, France 2University of Lyon, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Petteri
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Teikari
authors.affiliation: Inserm U1208, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Bron, France 5Department of Ophthalmology, CHU de Lyon Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Pierre-Loïc
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Cornut
authors.affiliation: Inserm U1208, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Bron, France 2University of Lyon, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Knoblauch
authors.affiliation: Inserm U1208, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Bron, France 2University of Lyon, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Howard M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Inserm U1208, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Bron, France 2University of Lyon, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gronfier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010783:Photometry / Q000379:methods*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult