Effect of accommodation on peripheral higher order aberrations

Abstract

Knowledge of the effect of accommodation on image quality of peripheral retina is crucial for better understanding of the visual system, but only a few studies have been carried out in this area. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of accommodation on higher order aberrations from third to sixth Zernike polynomials in central and peripheral retina up to 23° off-axis. We used a Hartmann–Shack aberrometer to measure Zernike coefficients with both accommodated and non-accommodated eyes of 15 healthy subjects. Each Zernike coefficient, total higher order aberrations, spherical aberrations and astigmatism were compared between accommodated and non-accommodated status. Additionally, aberrations in the central retina were compared with the peripheral retina. Accommodation induced significant changes in the Zernike coefficients of vertical pentafoil C−55 and secondary vertical tetrafoil C−46 in central retina, secondary vertical astigmatism C−24 on 23° of temporal retina, secondary vertical tetrafoil C−46 and tertiary vertical astigmatism C−26 on 10° of nasal retina, secondary vertical trefoil C−35 and secondary vertical tetrafoil C−46 on 23° of nasal retina, and horizontal tetrafoil C44, and secondary horizontal tetrafoil C46 on 23° of inferior retina (p < 0.05). Total higher order aberration was lower in each retinal area examined with accommodation, but it was statistically significant only on 23° temporal retina and 11.5° and 23° of superior retina (p < 0.05). Spherical aberration decreased with accommodation on 23° temporal retina (p = 0.036). Astigmatism was similar in non-accommodated and accommodated eyes. Overall, accommodation affected higher order aberration (HOA) asymmetrically in different peripheral retinal areas.