Effect of tear film break-up on higher-order aberrations measured with wavefront sensor

Abstract

PURPOSE: To investigate whether optical wavefront aberrations vary with tear film break-up.DESIGN: Observational case series.METHODS: Higher-order aberrations were examined for 20 eyes of 20 normal subjects with a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor before and after tear film break-up.RESULTS: Higher-order aberrations for photopic vision (central 4 mm diameter) after tear film break-up increased 1.44 fold compared to higher-order aberrations before tear film break-up (P = .001, paired t-test). Higher-order aberrations after tear film break-up for scotopic vision (central 6 mm diameter) were also 1.23 times higher than those before break-up (P = .005, paired t-test).CONCLUSION: Wavefront sensing enabled us to evaluate the induced irregular astigmatism caused by tear film break-up quantitatively. Wavefront aberrations should be measured carefully to avoid the effects of tear film break-up, especially in wavefront-guided refractive surgery.