Objective accommodation measurement on the human eye (OAK)

Focus:	Life Science Technologies Talents
Type of funding:	Individual funding programmes
Programme:	CZS research boost
Funded institution:	University of Applied Sciences Jena

Prof. Philipp Heßler, Professor of Optometry and Visual Aids Technology at the EAH Jena, is investigating ways of objectively measuring accommodation parameters, the ability of the human eye to see objects sharply at different distances.

Goals

Around 10-20 % of all children and adolescents have problems focusing their eyes at different distances. The currently available subjective methods for detecting such disorders are rarely used routinely in ophthalmology or optometry. As a result, accommodation disorders often go unrecognized. The symptoms of this are, for example, headaches or fatigue.

As part of the "OAK" project, the requirements for objective accommodation measurements are being investigated. To this end, existing methods such as automatic refraction determination and aberrometry are being adapted and tested in volunteer studies. The aim is to define the requirements for a marketable measurement technique and to develop a prototype. Various factors are taken into account, such as the type of fixation object, monocular and binocular conditions and depth perception.

In the long term, the project aims to contribute to the use of accommodation measurements in routine examinations, e.g. school entry examinations. This could significantly improve the quality of visual examinations and help to detect and treat disorders at an early stage.