Spherical Aberration Correction

in Contact Lenses
Give your patient the best opportunity
for high definition vision
may seem obvious to state

tion. The average spherical aber-

that vision is the most

ration of the eye is approximately

compelling factor when

+0.15m for a 6mm pupil size,2,3

choosing eye-related products.

which may result in a degraded

Indeed, that is what was found in a

image quality, glare, and halos.

global study across seven countries

This is especially true in low-light

of 3,800 vision-corrected patients

situations and for patients with a

between 15 and 65 years of age.

large pupil size. In addition, low

When asked to report which factors

contrast visual acuity may be

were the most and least important

significantly reduced by spherical

when selecting products for their

aberration.

eyes, features relating to vision

and health ranked highest out of
8 categories (eye condition, health,
vision, comfort, personal performance,

personal

appearance,

environment, and convenience).1

In the same study, when asked
about their visual symptoms,
39% of 2,124 contact lens wearers
reported seeing halos around
lights, especially at night and
46% noted they experience glare
or difficulty seeing in the presence
of bright light. Blurry vision or the
inability to see small details even
when using vision correction was
reported by 41% of the contact lens
wearers in the study.1 Although the
patients in this study reported these
symptoms were bothersome and
that they would like to find a solution, only less than 10% reported
having a complete solution to their
vision symptoms.1

It has been shown that visual

performance is improved when
spherical aberration is corrected,4
however, it is important to realize
that standard spherical surface

ration that needs correction.5 An

(non-aspheric) contact lenses actu-

ideal contact lens to correct spher-

ally induce spherical aberration.

ical aberration would correct both

The amount of spherical aberration

the spherical aberration of the

induced varies with the power of

eye and the spherical aberration

the lens. For example, a spherical

induced by the contact lens, across

lens with a power of -5.00 diopters

all powers, even those including

induces about -0.15m of spherical

astigmatism correction.

aberration (assuming the lens is

well-centered on the eye), which
actually counteracts the spherical
aberration of the average eye.
However, as the power of the spherical lens increases beyond -5.00

With this ideal contact lens and an

accurate sphero-cylindrical refraction, your patients will have the best
opportunity to have optimal vision
even in low-light situations.

diopters, the amount of negative

spherical aberration induced also
increases. The amount of negative spherical aberration induced
decreases as the amount of plus
power increases in spherical

One possible source of the symp-

lenses, as does the amount of

toms reported is spherical aberra-

induced positive spherical aber-

Joe Barr, OD, MS, FAAO

Vice President
Global Clinical & Medical Affairs
and Professional Services
Vision Care, Bausch + Lomb

References: 1. Market Probe Europe. Symptom Incidence & Needs Survey. December 2009. 2. Porter J, Guirao A, Cox IG, Williams DR. Monochromatic aberrations of
the human eye in a large population. J Opt Soc Am A Opt Image Sci Vis. 2001 Aug; 18 (8) : 1793-803. 3. Thibos LN, Hong X, Bradley A, Cheng X. Statistical variation of
aberration structure and image quality in a normal population of healthy eyes. J Opt Soc Am A. 2002 Dec; 19 (12) : 2329-48. 4. Piers PA, Manzanera S, Prieto PM, Gorceix
N, Artal P. Use of adaptive optics to determine the optimal ocular spherical aberration. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2007 Oct; 33 (10) : 1721-6. 5. Cairns G. Enhancing contact
lens design for complete performance. Optician. 2007(February) : 14-6.
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