Unlocking the Secrets of Scleral Asymmetry: A New, Artefact-Free Approach
Authors: Abass, A., Lopes, B.T., Eliasy, A., Salomao, M., Wu, R., White, L., Jones, S., Clamp, J., Ambrósio Jr, R., Elsheikh, A.
Journal: PloS one, 14(7)
Publication Date: Jul 2019
Right eye of a 33 years old male participant divided into three sections; corneal surface, scleral ring and artefact ring called the ‘edge effect’.
Summary:
When it comes to understanding the human eye, the sclera – the white outer layer of the eyeball – has long been a source of fascination for researchers. As the field of scleral contact lenses grows, scientists are keen to explore the intricacies of the scleral surface to improve lens fitting. Our research team has developed a groundbreaking, artefact-free method for detecting scleral asymmetry using corneoscleral topography data, allowing for a more accurate representation of the eye's surface.
We studied 88 participants, aged 23 to 65, using custom-built MATLAB codes to process eye topography data. Our method removed edge-effect noise, enabling us to analyze the true shape of the sclera, free from any distortions. We discovered that the nasal side of the sclera is higher than the temporal side, which could explain why contact lenses often shift towards the temporal side.
In our research, we found that the sclera is steeper not just on the temporal side, but also in two other meridians, creating angles of nearly 120° between them. This complexity confirms that the natural shape of the sclera does not follow the same astigmatism patterns as the cornea.
Understanding these nuances is critical for the development of more comfortable and better-fitting scleral contact lenses, which rest on the less-sensitive sclera rather than the cornea. Our innovative, artefact-free method of analyzing the scleral surface provides valuable insights for the field of contact lens fitting and has the potential to improve the lives of contact lens wearers worldwide.