Potential vision tester using Maxwellian view, small pupil, and different levels of wavefront correction with adaptive optics

We demonstrate a potential vision tester (PVT) designed to study and improve the accuracy of visual acuity (VA) measurements in the aging eye. Key features include a high-resolution visual display presented in Maxwellian view, a 3 mm pupil to limit wavefront (WF) aberrations, a Hartmann Shack wavefront sensor to quantify the ocular aberrations, and a deformable mirror to correct optical aberrations. VA was measured using four alternative forced choices for a single black-on-white E stimulus in each trial, with three different levels of correction for the ocular aberrations. For normally sighted subjects, VA was not significantly better when higher-order aberrations beyond second order were corrected.