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Visual acuity



 
 
Visual acuity (VA) is acuteness or clearness of vision
Visual perception

Visual perception is the ability to interpret information from visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight or vision....
, especially form vision, which is dependent on the sharpness of the retinal focus within the eye
Eye

Eyes are Organ that detect light, and send signals along the optic nerve to the visual system and other areas of the brain. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system....
 and the sensitivity of the interpretative faculty of the brain.

VA is a quantitative
Quantitative

A quantitative attribute is one that exists in a range of magnitudes, and can therefore be measurement. Measurements of any particular quantitative property are expressed as a specific quantity, referred to as a Unit of measurement, multiplied by a number....
 measure of the ability to identify black symbols on a white background at a standardized distance as the size of the symbols is varied. It is the most common clinical measurement of visual function.






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Visual acuity (VA) is acuteness or clearness of vision
Visual perception

Visual perception is the ability to interpret information from visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight or vision....
, especially form vision, which is dependent on the sharpness of the retinal focus within the eye
Eye

Eyes are Organ that detect light, and send signals along the optic nerve to the visual system and other areas of the brain. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system....
 and the sensitivity of the interpretative faculty of the brain.

VA is a quantitative
Quantitative

A quantitative attribute is one that exists in a range of magnitudes, and can therefore be measurement. Measurements of any particular quantitative property are expressed as a specific quantity, referred to as a Unit of measurement, multiplied by a number....
 measure of the ability to identify black symbols on a white background at a standardized distance as the size of the symbols is varied. It is the most common clinical measurement of visual function. In the term "20/20 vision" the numerator
Fraction (mathematics)

A fraction is a number that can represent part of a whole.The earliest fractions were reciprocals of integers, symbols representing one half, one third, one quarter, and so on....
 refers to the distance in feet from which a person can reliably distinguish a pair of objects. The denominator is the distance from which a person with standard VA would be able to distinguish them—the distance at which their separation angle is 1 arc minute. The metric equivalent is 6/6 vision where the distance is 6 meters. Twenty feet is essentially infinity
Infinity

Infinity comes from the Latin infinitas or "unboundedness." It refers to several distinct concepts – usually linked to the idea of "without end" – which arise in philosophy, mathematics, and theology....
 from an optical perspective (the difference in optical power required to focus at 20 feet versus infinity is only 0.164 diopters). For that reason, 20/20 vision can be considered nominal
Real versus nominal value

In economics, nominal value refers to any price or value expressed in money of the day, as opposed to real value, which adjusts for the effect of inflation....
 performance for human distance vision; 20/40 vision can be considered half that acuity for distance vision and 20/10 vision would be twice normal acuity. The 20/x number does not directly relate to the eyeglass prescription
Eyeglass prescription

An eyeglass prescription is a written order by an optometrist or ophthalmologist to an optician for eyeglasses. It specifies the refractive power to which the eyeglasses are to be made in order to correct blurred Visual perception due to refraction error, including myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism , and presbyopia....
 required to correct vision; rather an eye exam seeks to find the prescription that will provide 20/20 vision.

History

YearEvent
1843German ophthalmologist Heinrich Kuechler wrote a treatise advocating the need for standardized vision tests and developed a set of three charts.
1854Eduard von Jaeger published a set of reading samples to document functional vision. He published samples in German, French, English and other languages. He used fonts that were available in the State Printing House in Vienna in 1854 and labeled them with the numbers from that printing house catalogue.
1861Franciscus Donders
Franciscus Donders

Franciscus Cornelis Donders was a Netherlands ophthalmologist and medical scientist who did pioneering work on animal and vegetable heat, among many other things....
 coined the term visual acuity to describe the “sharpness of vision” and defined it as the ratio between a subject's VA and a standard VA.
1862Hermann Snellen
Hermann Snellen

Herman Snellen was a Dutch ophthalmologist who introduced the Snellen chart to study visual acuity . He took over directorship of the Netherlands Hospital for Eye Patients after Dr. Frans Cornelis Donders....
 published his famous letter chart
Snellen chart

A Snellen chart is an eye chart used by eye care professionals and others to measure visual acuity. Snellen charts are named after the Dutch ophthalmologist Herman Snellen who developed the chart in 1862....
. His most significant decision was not to use existing typefaces but to design special targets, which he called optotype
Optotype

An optotype is a standardized symbol for testing Visual perception. Optotypes can be specially shaped letters, numbers, or geometric symbols. For instance, to determine visual acuity, optotypes of different sizes are presented to a person and the smallest size is determined at which the person can reliably identify the optotypes....
s. This was crucial because it was a physical standard measure to reproduce the chart. Snellen defined “standard vision” as the ability to recognize one of his optotypes when it subtended 5 minutes of arc, thus the optotype can only be recognized if the person viewing it can discriminate a spatial pattern separated by a visual angle
Visual angle

The visual angle is the angle a viewed object subtends at the eye, usually stated in degrees of arc.It also is called the object's angular size.The sketch helps to define it 1,2...
 of 1 minute of arc. Since Snellen's days, few major improvements in visual acuity measurement have been made.
1875Snellen changed from using feet to meters (from 20/20 to 6/6 respectively). Today, the 20-foot distance prevails in the United States and 6 meters prevails in Britain. Also in 1875 Monoye proposed to replace the fractional Snellen notation with its decimal equivalent (e.g., 20/40 = 0.5, 6/12 = 0.5, 5/10 = 0.5). Decimal notation makes it simple to compare visual acuity values, regardless of the original measurement distance.
1888Edmund Landolt proposed the Landolt C
Landolt C

A Landolt C, also known as a Landolt ring or Landolt broken ring, is an optotype, i.e. a standardized symbol used for testing vision....
, a symbol that has only one element of detail and varies only in its orientation. The broken ring symbol is made with a "C" like figure in a 5 x 5 grid that, in the 20/20 optotype, subtends 5 minutes of arc and has an opening (oriented in the top, bottom, right or left) measuring 1 minute of arc. This proposal was based in the fact that not all of Snellen's optotypes were equally recognizable. This chart is actually the preferred visual acuity measurement symbol for laboratory experiments but gained only limited acceptance in clinical use.
1923Soviet
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 ophthalmologists Sergei Golovin and D. A. Sivtsev developed the table for testing visual acuity. Later this table became known as Golovin-Sivtsev Table
Golovin-Sivtsev Table

In 1923, Soviet Union ophthalmologists Sergei Golovin and D. A. Sivtsev developed the table for testing visual acuity, that was used in the USSR and is still used in some post-Soviet states....
.
1959Louise Sloan designed a new optotype set of 10 letters, all to be shown in each and every line tested, in order to avoid the problem that not all letters are equally recognizable. The larger letter sizes thus required more than one physical line. Louise Sloan also proposed a new letter size notation using the SI system stating that standard acuity (1.0, 20/20) represents the ability to recognize a standard letter size (1 M-bunit) at a standard distance (1 meter).
1976
  • Ian Bailey and Jan Lovie published a new chart featuring a new layout with five letters on each row and spacing between letters and rows equal to the letter size. This layout was created to standardize the crowding effect and the number of errors that could be made on each line, so letter size became the only variable between the acuity levels measured. These charts have the shape of an inverted triangle and are much wider at the top than traditional charts. Like Sloan's chart, they followed a geometric progression of letter sizes.
  • Lea Hyvärinen created a chart, the Lea chart
    Lea test

    A Lea test is a visual acuity test tailored for children who do not know the alphabet normally used in eye charts. The optotypes are outlines of an apple, a house, a Square , and a circle....
    , using outlines of figures (an apple, a house, a circle and a square) to measure visual acuity in preschool children.
  • Hugh Taylor used these design principles for an illiterate Tumbling E Chart used to study the visual acuity of Australian Aborigines and it's actually used to screen visual acuity on illiterate people.


Physiology of visual acuity


In scotopic vision, there is low resolution despite the high sensitivity thereof. This is due to spatial summation of rods, so 100 rods could merge into many bipolars, in turn converging on ganglion cells, and the unit for resolution is very large, thus acuity being small. The farther a pattern of white and black lines is presented to a person, the less he can distinguish the lines, culminating to a distance when the pattern is seen as a uniform gray. The angle subtended by the detail at minimum acuity is the resolving power, and its reciprocal is the visual acuity. For example, a visual acuity of 1 subtends 1 minute on the retina, that of 2 is 1/2 minutes (30 seconds) of arc. Visual acuity is much better in bright light than dim light, the former reaching 2 with a bright center and surrounding, the latter perhaps having visual acuity of 0.04 (25 minutes on eye). In this case, the stimulus is 1.7 inches (4.4 cm) and a distance of 20 ft (6 m).

To resolve detail, the eye's optical system has to project a focused image on the fovea
Fovea

The fovea, also known as the fovea centralis, is a part of the eye, located in the center of the macula region of the retina.The fovea is responsible for sharp central Visual perception , which is necessary in humans for reading , watching television or movies, driving, and any activity where visual detail is of primary importance....
, a region inside the macula
Macula

The macula or macula lutea is an oval-shaped highly pigmented yellow spot near the center of the retina of the human eye. It has a diameter of around 5 mm and is often histologically defined as having two or more layers of ganglion cells....
 having the highest density of cone
Cone cell

Cone cells, or cones, are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye which function best in relatively bright light. The cone cells gradually become sparser towards the periphery of the retina....
 photoreceptor
Photoreceptor

A photoreceptor, or photoreceptor cell, is a specialized type of neuron found in the eye's retina that is capable of phototransduction....
s (the only kind of photoreceptors existing on the fovea), thus having the highest resolution and best color vision. Acuity and color vision, despite being mediated by the same cells, are different physiologic functions that do not interrelate except by position. Acuity and color vision can be affected independently.

The grain of a photographic mosaic has just as limited resolving power as the "grain" of the retinal mosaic. In order to see detail, two sets of receptors must be intervened by a middle set. The maximum resolution is that 30 seconds of arc, corresponding to the foveal cone diameter or the angle subtended at the nodal point of the eye. In order to get reception from each cone, as it would be if vision was on a mosaic basis, the "local sign" must be obtained from a single cone via a chain of one bipolar, ganglion, and lateral geniculate cell each. A key factor of obtaining detailed vision, however, is inhibition. This is mediated by neurons such as the amacrine and horizontal cells, which functionally render the spread or convergence of signals inactive. This tendency to one-to-one shuttle of signals is powered by brightening of the center and its surroundings, which triggers the inhibition leading to a one-to-one wiring. This scenario, however, is rare, as cones may connect to both midget and flat (diffuse) bipolars, and amacrine and horizontal cells can merge messages just as easily as inhibit them.

Light
Light

Light, or visible light, is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is Visible spectrum to the human eye , or up to 380?750 nm. In the broader field of physics, light is sometimes used to refer to electromagnetic radiation of all wavelengths, whether visible or not....
 travels from the fixation object to the fovea through an imaginary path called the visual axis. The eye's tissues and structures that are in the visual axis (and also the tissues adjacent to it) affect the quality of the image. These structures are: tear film, cornea, anterior chamber, pupil, lens, vitreous, and finally the retina. The posterior part of the retina, called the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is responsible for, among many other things, absorbing light that crosses the retina so it cannot bounce to other parts of the retina. Interestingly, in many vertebrates, such as cats, where high visual acuity is not a priority, there is a reflecting tapetum
Tapetum lucidum

The tapetum lucidum is a layer of tissue in the eye of many vertebrate animals, that lies immediately behind or sometimes within the retina. It Reflection visible light back through the retina, increasing the light available to the Photoreceptor cell....
 layer that gives the photoreceptors a "second chance" to absorb the light, thus improving the ability to see in the dark. This is what causes an animal's eyes to seemingly glow in the dark when a light is shone on them. The RPE also has a vital function of recycling the chemicals used by the rods and cones in photon detection. If the RPE is damaged and does not clean up this "shed" blindness can result.

As in a photographic lens
Photographic lens

A photographic lens is an optics lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically....
, visual acuity is affected by the size of the pupil. Optical aberrations of the eye that decrease visual acuity are at a maximum when the pupil is largest (about 8 mm), which occurs in low-light conditions. When the pupil is small (1–2 mm), image sharpness may be limited by diffraction
Diffraction

Diffraction is normally taken to refer to various phenomena which occur when a wave encounters an obstacle. It is described as the apparent bending of waves around small obstacles and the spreading out of waves past small openings....
 of light by the pupil (see diffraction limit). Between these extremes is the pupil diameter that is generally best for visual acuity in normal, healthy eyes; this tends to be around 3 or 4 mm.

If the optics of the eye were otherwise perfect, theoretically acuity would be limited by pupil diffraction which would be a diffraction-limited acuity of 0.4 minutes of arc (minarc) or 20/8 acuity. The smallest cone cells in the fovea have sizes corresponding to 0.4 minarc of the visual field, which also places a lower limit on acuity. The optimal acuity of 0.4 minarc or 20/8 can be demonstrated using a laser interferometer
Interferometry

Interferometry is the technique of diagnosing the properties of two or more waves by studying the pattern of interference created by their Superposition principle....
 that bypasses any defects in the eye's optics and projects a pattern of dark and light bands directly on the retina. Laser interferometers are now used routinely in patients with optical problems, such as cataract
Cataract

A cataract is a clouding that develops in the lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete Opacity and obstructing the passage of light....
s, to assess the health of the retina before subjecting them to surgery.

The visual cortex
Visual cortex

The term visual cortex refers to the primary visual cortex and Extrastriate cortex such as V2, V3, V4, and V5....
 is the part of the cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex is a structure within the brain that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness....
 in the posterior part of the brain
Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some primitive animals such as cnidarian and echinoderm have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while sponges lack any nervous system at all....
 responsible for processing visual stimuli, called the occipital lobe
Occipital lobe

The occipital lobe is the Visual perception of the mammalian brain containing most of the anatomical region of the visual cortex. The primary visual cortex is Brodmann area, commonly called V1 ....
. The central 10° of field (approximately the extension of the macula
Macula

The macula or macula lutea is an oval-shaped highly pigmented yellow spot near the center of the retina of the human eye. It has a diameter of around 5 mm and is often histologically defined as having two or more layers of ganglion cells....
) is represented by at least 60% of the visual cortex. Many of these neurons are believed to be involved directly in visual acuity processing.

Proper development of normal visual acuity depends on an animal having normal visual input when it is very young. Any visual deprivation, that is, anything interfering with such input over a prolonged period, such as a cataract
Cataract

A cataract is a clouding that develops in the lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete Opacity and obstructing the passage of light....
, severe eye turn or strabismus
Strabismus

Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the Muscles of orbits that prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely affect depth perception....
, or covering or patching the eye during medical treatment, will usually result in a severe and permanent decrease in visual acuity in the affected eye if not treated early in life. The decreased acuity is reflected in various abnormalities in cell properties in the visual cortex. These changes include a marked decrease in the number of cells connected to the affected eye as well as few cells connected to both eyes, resulting in a loss of binocular vision
Binocular vision

Binocular vision is Visual perception in which both eyes are used together. The word binocular comes from two Latin roots, bini for double, and oculus for eye....
 and depth perception
Depth perception

Depth perception is the visual perception ability to perceive the world in three dimensions. Although any animal capable of moving around its environment must be able to sense the distance of objects in that environment, the term perception is reserved for humans, who are the only beings that can tell each other about their qualia of dist...
, or stereopsis
Stereopsis

Stereopsis is the process in visual perception leading to the sensation of depth from the two slightly different projections of the world onto the retinas of the two eyes....
. The period of time over which an animal is highly sensitive to such visual deprivation is referred to as the critical period
Critical period

This article is about a critical period in an organism's development. See also America's Critical Period.In general, a critical period is a limited time in which an event can occur, usually to result in some kind of transformation....
.

The eye is connected to the visual cortex by the optic nerve
Optic nerve

The optic nerve, also called cranial nerve II, transmits visual information from the retina to the brain....
 coming out of the back of the eye. The two optic nerves come together behind the eyes at the optic chiasm
Optic chiasm

The optic chiasm or optic chiasma is the part of the brain where the optic nerves partially cross....
, where about half of the fibers from each eye cross over to the opposite side and join fibers from the other eye representing the corresponding visual field, the combined nerve fibers from both eyes forming the optic tract
Optic tract

The optic tract is a part of the visual system in the brain.It is a continuation of the optic nerve and runs from the optic chiasm to the lateral geniculate nucleus....
. This ultimately forms the physiological basis of binocular vision
Binocular vision

Binocular vision is Visual perception in which both eyes are used together. The word binocular comes from two Latin roots, bini for double, and oculus for eye....
. The tracts project to a relay station in the midbrain called the lateral geniculate nucleus
Lateral geniculate nucleus

The lateral geniculate nucleus is the primary processing center for Visual perception information received from the retina of the eye. The LGN is found inside the thalamus of the brain, and is thus part of the central nervous system....
, which is part of the thalamus
Thalamus

The thalamus is a pair and symmetric part of the brain. It constitutes the main part of the diencephalon....
, and then to the visual cortex along a collection of nerve fibers called the optic radiation
Optic radiation

The optic radiation is a collection of axons from relay neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus carrying visual information to the visual cortex along the calcarine fissure....
s.

Any pathological process in the visual system, even in older humans beyond the critical period, will often cause decreases in visual acuity. Thus measuring visual acuity is a simple test in accessing the health of the eyes, the visual brain, or pathway to the brain. Any relatively sudden decrease in visual acuity is always a cause for concern. Common causes of decreases in visual acuity are cataract
Cataract

A cataract is a clouding that develops in the lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete Opacity and obstructing the passage of light....
s and scarred cornea
Cornea

The cornea is the transparency front part of the eye that covers the Iris , pupil, and anterior chamber. Together with the cilliary muscles, the cornea reflects light, and as a result helps the eye to dilate, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power....
s, which affect the optical path, diseases that affect the retina, such as macular degeneration
Macular degeneration

File:Human eye cross-sectional view grayscale.pngFile:Human eyesight two children and ball normal vision.jpgFile:Human eyesight two children and ball with age-related macular degeneration.jpg...
 and diabetes, diseases affecting the optic pathway to the brain such as tumor
Tumor

A tumor or tumour is the name for a swelling or lesion formed by an abnormal growth of cells . Tumor is not synonymous with cancer. A tumor can be Benign neoplasm, Carcinoma in situ or malignant, whereas cancer is by definition malignant....
s and multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system, leading to demyelinating disease. Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in females....
, and diseases affecting the visual cortex such as tumors and stroke
Stroke

A stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to a disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. According to the National Stroke Association, a "stroke" occurs when a blood clot blocks and artery or a blood vessel breaks, interrupting blood flow to an area of the brain....
s.

Though the resolving power depends on size and packing density of the photoreceptors, the neural system of receptors must interpret this resolving power. As determined from various experiments on the cat, different ganglion cells are tuned to different frequencies of detail, as from a grating
Grating

A grating is any regularly spaced collection of essentially identical, parallel, elongated elements. Gratings usually consist of a single set of elongated elements, but can consist of two sets, in which case the second set is usually perpendicular to the first ....
, so some ganglion cells have better acuity than others. In the human the results are the same, this time utilizing the same method as well as a device to read electrical changes in the scalp.

Optical aspects

Besides the neural connections of the receptors, the optical system is an equally key player in retinal resolution. In the ideal eye, the image of a diffraction grating
Diffraction grating

In optics, a diffraction grating is an optical component with a regular pattern, which splits light into several beams travelling in different directions....
, can subtend 0.5 micrometre on the retina. This is certainly not the case, however, and furthermore the pupil can cause diffraction
Diffraction

Diffraction is normally taken to refer to various phenomena which occur when a wave encounters an obstacle. It is described as the apparent bending of waves around small obstacles and the spreading out of waves past small openings....
 of the light. Thus, black lines on a grating will be mixed with the intervening white lines to make a gray appearance. Defective optical issues (such as myopia) can render it worse, but suitable lenses can help. Images (such as gratings) can be sharpened by lateral inhibition, i.e., more highly excited cells inhibiting the less excited cells. A similar reaction is in the case of chromatic aberrations, in which the color fringes around black-and-white objects are inhibited similarly.

Visual acuity expression

Visual acuity scales
Foot Metre Decimal LogMAR
20/2006/60 0.101.00
20/1606/48 0.130.90
20/1206/36 0.170.78
20/1006/30 0.200.70
20/806/24 0.250.60
20/606/18 0.330.48
20/506/15 0.400.40
20/406/12 0.500.30
20/306/9 0.630.18
20/256/7.5 0.800.10
20/206/6 1.000.00
20/166/4.8 1.25 -0.10
20/126/3.6 1.67 -0.22
20/106/3 2.00 -0.30


Visual acuity is often measured according to the size of letters viewed on a Snellen chart
Snellen chart

A Snellen chart is an eye chart used by eye care professionals and others to measure visual acuity. Snellen charts are named after the Dutch ophthalmologist Herman Snellen who developed the chart in 1862....
 or the size of other symbols, such as Landolt C
Landolt C

A Landolt C, also known as a Landolt ring or Landolt broken ring, is an optotype, i.e. a standardized symbol used for testing vision....
s or Tumbling E.

In some countries, acuity is expressed as a vulgar fraction, and in some as a decimal number
Decimal

The decimal numeral system has 10 as its Base . It is the most widely used numeral system....
.

Using the foot as a unit of measurement, (fractional) visual acuity is expressed relative to 20/20. Otherwise, using the metre
Metre

The metre or meter is a Unit of measurement of length. It is the SI base unit of length in the metric system and in the International System of Units , used around the world for general and scientific purposes....
, visual acuity is expressed relative to 6/6. For all intents and purposes, 6/6 vision is equivalent to 20/20. In the decimal system, the acuity is defined as the reciprocal value of the size of the gap (measured in arc minutes) of the smallest Landolt C
Landolt C

A Landolt C, also known as a Landolt ring or Landolt broken ring, is an optotype, i.e. a standardized symbol used for testing vision....
 that can be reliably identified. A value of 1.0 is equal to 20/20.

LogMAR is another commonly used scale which is expressed as the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution. LogMAR scale converts the geometric sequence of a traditional chart to a linear scale. It measures visual acuity loss; positive values indicate vision loss, while negative values denote normal or better visual acuity. This scale is rarely used clinically; it is more frequently used in statistical calculations because it provides a more scientific equivalent for the traditional clinical statement of “lines lost” or “lines gained”, which is valid only when all steps between lines are equal, which is not usually the case.

A visual acuity of 20/20 is frequently described as meaning that a person can see detail from 20 feet away the same as a person with normal eyesight would see from 20 feet. If a person has a visual acuity of 20/40, he is said to see detail from 20 feet away the same as a person with normal eyesight would see it from 40 feet away. It is possible to have vision superior to 20/20: the maximum acuity of the human eye without visual aids (such as binoculars
Binoculars

Binocular telescopes, or binoculars , are two identical or mirror-symmetry optical telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point accurately in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes when viewing distant objects....
) is generally thought to be around 20/10 (6/3) however, recent test subjects have exceeded 20/8 vision. Recent developments in optometry have resulted in corrective lenses conferring upon the wearer a vision of up to 20/10. Some birds, such as hawk
Hawk

The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Europe and Asia, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genus Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis....
s, are believed to have an acuity of around 20/2; in this respect, their vision is much better than human eyesight.

When visual acuity is below the largest optotype on the chart, either the chart is moved closer to the patient or the patient is moved closer to the chart until the patient can read it. Once the patient is able to read the chart, the letter size and test distance are noted. If the patient is unable to read the chart at any distance, he or she is tested as follows:

Many humans have one eye that has superior visual acuity over the other. If a person cannot achieve a visual acuity of 20/200 (6/60) or above in the better eye, even with the best possible glasses, then that person is considered legally blind
Blindness

Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define "blindness." Total blindness is the complete lack of form and visual light perception and is clinically recorded as "NLP," an abbreviation for "no ligh...
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. A person with a visual field narrower than 20 degree
Degree (angle)

A degree , usually denoted by ? , is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1/360 of a Turn ; one degree is equivalent to p/180 radians....
s also meets the definition of legally blind.

A person's visual acuity is registered documenting the following: whether the test was for distant or near vision, the eye(s) evaluated and whether corrective lenses (i.e. spectacle
Spectacle

In general spectacle refers to an event that is memorable for the appearance it creates. Derived in Old English from c.1340 as "specially prepared or arranged display" it was borrowed from Old French spectacle, itself a reflection of the Latin spectaculum "a show" from spectare "to view, watch" frequentative form of specere "t...
s or contact lens
Contact lens

A contact lens is a corrective lens, cosmetics, or therapeutic lens usually placed on the cornea of the eye. Modern soft contact lenses were invented by the Czech Republic chemists Otto Wichterle and Drahoslav L?m, who also invented the first gel used for their production....
es) were used:
  • Distance from the chart
    • D (distant) for the evaluation done at 20 feet (or 6 meters).
    • N (near) for the evaluation done at 15.7 inches (or 40 cm).
  • Eye evaluated
    • OD (Latin oculus dexter) for the right eye.
    • OS (Latin oculus sinister) for the left eye.
    • OU (Latin oculi uterque) for both eyes.
  • Usage of spectacles during the test
    • cc (Latin cum correctore) with correctors.
    • sc: (Latin sine correctore) without correctors.
  • Pinhole occluder
    Pinhole occluder

    A pinhole occluder is an opaque disk with one or more small holes through it, used by ophthalmologists to test visual acuity. The occluder is a simple way to focus light, as in a pinhole camera, temporarily removing the effects of refractive errors such as myopia....
    • The abbreviation PH is followed by the visual acuity as measured with a pinhole occluder, which temporarily corrects for refractive error
      Refractive error

      A refractive error, or refraction error, is an error in the focus ing of light by the eye and a frequent reason for reduced visual acuity....
      s such as myopia or astigmatism.


So, distant visual acuity of 20/60 and 20/25 with pinhole in the right eye will be:
DscOD 20/60 PH 20/25

Distant visual acuity of count fingers and 20/50 with pinhole in the left eye will be:
DscOS CF PH 20/50

Near visual acuity of 20/25 with pinhole remaining at 20/25 in both eyes with spectacles will be:
NccOU 20/25 PH 20/25

"Dynamic visual acuity" defines the ability of the eye to visually discern fine detail in a moving object.

Measurement

Visual acuity is typically measured monocularly rather than binocularly with the aid of an optotype chart for distant vision, an optotype chart for near vision, and an occluder to cover the eye not being tested. The examiner may also occlude an eye by sliding a tissue behind the patient's eyeglasses, or instructing the patient to use his or her hand. This latter method is typically avoided in professional settings as it may inadvertently allow the patient to peek through his or her fingers, or press the eye and alter the measurement when that eye is evaluated.

  1. Place the chart at 20 feet (or 6 meters) and illuminate to 480 lux
    Lux

    The lux is the SI unit of illuminance and luminous emittance. It is used in photometry as a measure of the apparent intensity of light hitting or passing through a surface....
     at that distance.
  2. If the patient uses glasses, then the test is performed using them.
  3. Place the occluder in front of the eye that is not being evaluated. The first evaluated eye is the one that is believed to see less or the one the patient says that is seeing less.
  4. Start first with the big optotypes and proceed to the smaller ones. The patient has to identify every one on the line being presented and communicate it to the physician.
  5. If the measurement is reduced (below 20/20) then the test using a pinhole should be done and register the visual acuity using the pinhole. Both measures should be registered, with and without using pinhole.
  6. Change the occluder to the other eye and proceed again from the 4th step.
  7. After both eyes have been evaluated in distant visual acuity, proceed to evaluate near visual acuity placing a modifid snellen chart for near vision (such as the Rosembaum chart) at 15.7 inches (or 40 centimeters). Then repeat the test from the 2nd step.


In some cases, binocular visual acuity will be measured, because usually binocular visual acuity is slightly better than monocular visual acuity.

Measurement considerations

Visual acuity measurement involves more than being able to see the optotypes. The patient should be cooperative, understand the optotypes, be able to communicate with the physician, and many more factors. If any of these factors is missing, then the measurement will not represent the patient's real visual acuity.

Visual acuity is a subjective test meaning that if the patient is unwilling or unable to cooperate, the test cannot be done. A patient being sleepy, intoxicated, or having any disease that can alter the patient's consciousness or his mental status can make the measured visual acuity worse than it actually is.

Illiterate patients who cannot read letters and/or numbers will be registered as having very low visual acuity if this is not known. Some of the patients will not tell the physician that they don't know the optotypes unless asked directly about it. Brain damage can result in a patient not being able to recognize printed letters, or being unable to spell them.

A motor inability can make a person respond incorrectly to the optotype shown and negatively affect the visual acuity measurement.

Variables such as pupil
Pupil

The pupil is the sphere that is located in the center of the Iris of the eye and that controls the amount of light that enters the eye. It appears black because most of the light entering the pupil is absorbed by the biological tissue inside the eye....
 size, background adaptation luminance, duration of presentation, type of optotype used, interaction effects from adjacent visual contours (or “crowding") can all affect visual acuity measurement.

Visual acuity testing in children


The newborn’s visual acuity is approximately 20/400, developing to 20/20 by two years.

The measurement of visual acuity in infants, pre-verbal children and special populations (for instance, handicapped individuals) is not always possible with a letter chart. For these populations, specialised testing is necessary. As a basic examination step, one must check whether visual stimuli can be fixed, centered and followed.

More formal testing using preferential looking
Preferential looking

Preferential looking is an experimental method in developmental psychology used to gain insight into the young mind/brain....
 techniques use Teller acuity cards (presented by a technician from behind a window in the wall) to check if the child is more visually attentive to a random presentation of vertical or horizontal bars on one side compared with a blank page on the other side — the bars become progressively finer or closer together, and the endpoint is noted when the child in its adult carer's lap equally prefers the two sides.

Another popular technique is electro-physiologic testing using visual evoked potentials (VEP), which can be used to estimate visual acuity in doubtful cases and expected severe vision loss cases like Leber's congenital amaurosis
Leber's congenital amaurosis

Leber's congenital amaurosis is a rare heredity List of eye diseases and disorders that appears at congenital or in the first few months of life, and affects around 1 in 80,000 of the population....
.

VEP testing of acuity is somewhat similar to preferential looking in using a series of black and white stripes or checkerboard patterns (which produce larger responses than stripes). However, behaviorial responses are not required. Instead brain waves created by the presentation of the patterns are recorded. The patterns become finer and finer until the evoked brain wave just disappears, which is considered to be the endpoint measure of visual acuity. In adults and older, verbal children capable of paying attention and following instructions, the endpoint provided by the VEP corresponds very well to the perceptual endpoint determined by asking the subject when they can no longer see the pattern. There is an assumption that this correspondence also applies to much younger children and infants, though this does not necessarily have to be the case. Studies do show the evoked brain waves, as well as derived acuities, are very adult-like by one year of age.

For reasons not totally understood, until a child is several years old, visual acuities from behavioral preferential looking techniques typically lag behind those determined using the VEP, a direct physiological measure of early visual processing in the brain. Possibly it takes longer for more complex behavioral and attentional responses, involving brain areas not directly involved in processing vision, to mature. Thus the visual brain may detect the presence of a finer pattern (reflected in the evoked brain wave), but the "behavioral brain" of a small child may not find it salient enough to pay special attention to.

A simple but less-used technique is checking oculomotor responses with an optokinetic nystagmus drum, where the subject is placed inside the drum and surrounded by rotating black and white stripes. This creates an involuntary flicking or nystagumus of the eyes as they attempt to track the moving stripes. There is a good correspondence between the optikinetic and usual eye-chart acuities in adults. A potentially serious problem with this technique is that the process is reflexive and mediated in the low-level brain stem
Brain stem

The brain stem is the lower part of the brain, adjoining and structurally continuous with the spinal cord. The brain stem provides the main motor and sensory innervation to the face and neck via the cranial nerves....
, not in the visual cortex. Thus someone can have a normal optokinetic response and yet be cortically blind with no conscious visual sensation.

"Normal" vision


Visual acuity depends upon how accurately light is focused on the retina (mostly the macula
Macula

The macula or macula lutea is an oval-shaped highly pigmented yellow spot near the center of the retina of the human eye. It has a diameter of around 5 mm and is often histologically defined as having two or more layers of ganglion cells....
r region), the integrity of the eye's neural elements, and the interpretative faculty of the brain. "Normal" visual acuity is frequently considered to be what was defined by Snellen as the ability to recognize an optotype
Optotype

An optotype is a standardized symbol for testing Visual perception. Optotypes can be specially shaped letters, numbers, or geometric symbols. For instance, to determine visual acuity, optotypes of different sizes are presented to a person and the smallest size is determined at which the person can reliably identify the optotypes....
 when it subtended 5 minutes of arc
Minute of arc

A minute of arc, arcminute, or MOA is a unit of angle, equal to one sixtieth of one degree . Since one degree is defined as one three hundred sixtieth of a circle, 1 minute of arc is 1/21600 of the amount of arc in a closed circle....
, that is Snellen's chart 20/20 feet, 6/6 meter, 1.00 decimal or 0.0 logMAR. In humans, the maximum acuity of a healthy, emmetropic eye (and even ametropic eyes with correctors) is approximately 20/16 to 20/12, so it is inaccurate to refer to 20/20 visual acuity as "perfect" vision. 20/20 is the visual acuity needed to discriminate two points separated by 1 arc minute—about 1/16 of an inch at 20 feet. This is because a 20/20 letter, E for example, has three limbs and two spaces in between them, giving 5 different detailed areas. The ability to resolve this therefore requires 1/5 of the letter's total arc, which in this case would be 1 minute. The significance of the 20/20 standard can best be thought of as the lower limit of normal or as a screening cutoff. When used as a screening test subjects that reach this level need no further investigation, even though the average visual acuity of healthy eyes is 20/16 to 20/12.

Some people may suffer from other visual problems, such as color blindness
Color blindness

Color blindness, a color vision deficiency, is the inability to perceive differences between some of the colors that others can distinguish. It is most often of genetic nature, but may also occur because of eye, nerve, or brain damage, or due to exposure to certain chemicals....
, reduced contrast
Contrast (vision)

Contrast is the difference in visual properties that makes an object distinguishable from other objects and the background. In visual perception of the real world, contrast is determined by the difference in the color and brightness of the object and other objects within the same field of view....
, or inability to track fast-moving objects and still have normal visual acuity. Thus, normal visual acuity does not mean normal vision. The reason visual acuity is very widely used is that it is a test that corresponds very well with the normal daily activities a person can handle, and evaluate their impairment to do them.

Other measures of visual acuity

Normally visual acuity refers to the ability to resolve two separated points or lines, but there are other measures of the ability of the visual system to discern spatial differences.

Vernier acuity measures the ability to align two line segments. Humans can do this with remarkable accuracy. Under optimal conditions of good illumination, high contrast, and long line segments, the limit to vernier
Vernier

Vernier can refer to:*Persons**Pierre Vernier , a French mathematician and instrument inventor.*Places**Vernier, Switzerland, a Municipalities of Switzerland in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland....
 acuity is about 8 arc seconds or 0.13 arc minutes, compared to about 0.6 arc minutes (20/12) for normal visual acuity or the 0.4 arc minute diameter of a foveal cone. Because the limit of vernier acuity is well below that imposed on regular visual acuity by the "retinal grain" or size of the foveal cones, it is thought to be a process of the visual cortex
Visual cortex

The term visual cortex refers to the primary visual cortex and Extrastriate cortex such as V2, V3, V4, and V5....
 rather than the retina. Supporting this idea, vernier acuity seems to correspond very closely (and may have the same underlying mechanism) enabling one to discern very slight differences in the orientations of two lines, where orientation is known to be processed in the visual cortex.

The smallest detectable visual angle produced by a single fine dark line against a uniformally illuminated background is also much less than foveal cone size or regular visual acuity. In this case, under optimal conditions, the limit is about 0.5 arc seconds, or only about 2% of the diameter of a foveal cone. This produces a contrast of about 1% with the illumination
Illumination

Illumination may refer to:*Illumination , the use of light sources*Illumination , the use of light and shadow in art*Illumination , the artistic decoration of hand-written texts...
 of surrounding cones. The mechanism of detection is the ability to detect such small differences in contrast or illumination, and does not depend on the angular width of the bar, which cannot be discerned. Thus as the line gets finer, it appears to get fainter but not thinner.

Stereoscopic acuity is the ability to detect tiny differences in depth
Depth

The term Depth may refer to: How deep something is. How far down.* Depth perception, 3d shapes* Depth of moral character* Depth in a well* Depth of a river...
 with the two eyes. For more complex targets, stereoacuity is similar to normal monocular visual acuity, or around 0.6-1.0 arc minutes, but for much simpler targets, such as vertical rods, may be as low as only 2 arc seconds. Although stereoacuity normally corresponds very well with monocular acuity, it may be very poor or even absent even with normal monocular acuities. Such individuals typically have abnormal visual development when they are very young, such as an alternating strabismus
Strabismus

Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the Muscles of orbits that prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely affect depth perception....
 or eye turn, where both eyes rarely or never point in the same direction and therefore do not function together.

See also

  • Dioptre
    Dioptre

    A dioptre, or diopter, is a unit of measurement of the optical power of a lens or curved mirror, which is equal to the Multiplicative inverse of the focal length measured in metres ....
  • Eye examination
    Eye examination

    An eye examination is a battery of tests performed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist assessing Visual perception and ability to Focus on and discern objects, as well as other tests and examinations pertaining to the eyes....
  • Pediatric ophthalmology
    Pediatric ophthalmology

    Pediatric ophthalmology is a sub-speciality of ophthalmology concerned with eye diseases, visual development, and vision care in children....
  • Hanks paediatric eye charts
    Hanks paediatric eye charts

    The Hanks Paediatric Test Cards were developed by an optometrist, Dr Anthony Hanks, and are designed for use when evaluating the vision of young children....
  • Refractive error
    Refractive error

    A refractive error, or refraction error, is an error in the focus ing of light by the eye and a frequent reason for reduced visual acuity....
  • Strabismus
    Strabismus

    Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the Muscles of orbits that prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely affect depth perception....
  • Optical resolution
    Optical resolution

    Optical resolution describes the ability of an imaging system to resolve detail in the object that is being imaged.An imaging system may have many individual components including a lens and recording and display components....
  • Troxler's fading
    Troxler's fading

    Troxler's fading or Troxler's effect is a phenomenon of visual perception. When one fixates a particular point, after about 20 seconds or so, a stimulus away from the fixation point, in peripheral vision, will fade away and disappear....


Further reading

  • Duane's Clinical Ophthalmology, V.1 C.5, V.1 C.33, V.2 C.2, V.2 C.4, V.5 C.49, V.5 C.51, V.8 C.17, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004.
  • ??????? ?.?. ?????? ?.?. ??????? ??? ???????????? ??????? ??????. 3 ???. ?., 1927


External links

  • Catalog of Stories by Parents of Children Who Tested 20/20, Optometrists Network
  • - used in the USSR and post-Soviet states
  • - used in the USSR and post-Soviet states
  • Chapter from the Webvision reference, University of Utah
  • (for eyeglass prescriptions)