Remote measurement of the clinical prescription of spectacle lenses

Abstract

The SpectRx system has been developed to measure sphero-cylindrical spectacle lens power as an alternative to clinical lensmeters. This work was inspired by the ongoing global pandemic, which limited physical access to eye care facilities for regular eye exams. The SpectRx system aims to bypass this limitation by providing at-home prescription measurements. The power and orientation of the spectacle lenses are obtained by the use of readily available objects such as a cell phone camera, a displayed or printed target, and a fixed-dimension magnetic stripe card. The magnification of the lenses can be calculated by examining the image captured through the lens of the target at a fixed distance. The magnification may be spatially varying due to the cylinder component of the lens. Processing the pictures captured with a cell phone camera is done automatically with standard image processing algorithms. The processed images, in turn, are used to calculate a clinical prescription, i.e., Sph/Cyl×Axis. The SpectRx may expand access to quality eye care in not only the current pandemic situation but also in locations where eye care may not be easily accessible, such as some rural or remote areas. The image processing and clinical prescription calculation are discussed here.