Computerised calculation scheme for ocular magnification with the Zeiss telecentric fundus camera

Abstract

Littmann (1982) described a method to determine the magnification of the eye in order to relate the size of a retinal feature to its measured image size on a telecentric fundus camera film. This required information only about ametropia and corneal curvature. Several other methods have been reported since then which consider other biometric data to enhance the accuracy of this classical method. The purpose of this study is to describe a numerical calculation scheme to determine the magnification q of the eye in two cardinal meridians using paraxial raytracing. Our calculation scheme is based on ametropia, keratometry, as well as biometric data such as axial length, anterior chamber depth and thickness of the crystalline lens. It is described step-by-step in order (1) to determine the refractive powers of both surfaces of the crystalline lens, which are not directly measurable in vivo, (2) to derive the retinal image conjugate to a circular object using paraxial raytracing, (3) to fit an ellipse to the retinal image, (4) to determine the secondary principal points (Gaussian length) separately for both cardinal meridians and (5) to calculate the ocular magnification q. The power of the crystalline lens is estimated to compensate for the spherocylindrical refraction at the spectacle plane and the corneal refraction with an astigmatic component thus creating a sharp image focused at the retinal plane. The capabilities of this computing scheme are demonstrated with five clinical examples and are related to the respective values of the classical Littmann formula as well as to enhanced methods described by Bennett (1988), Bennett et al. (1994) and Garway-Heath et al. (1998).