Corneal Topography Flashcards
What is the corneal cap?
find that centrally
also known as optic cap or apical zone
-spherical zone
What is the size of the corneal cap ?
4mm in diamter
Where is the corneal cap decentered ?
- 2- 0.6mm nasally
0. 2mm superiorly
What is the mid region of the cornea ?
paracentral region (or mid peripheral region) of greatest flattening -it spans from 4-8mm from the centre of the cornea
What is the peripheral region of the cornea?
8-11mm from the centre
-the greatest asphericity in the nasal and superior nasal areas
What are the 3 regions of the cornea?
corneal cap
paracentral/mid peripheral region
peripheral region
Why is knowledge of corneal curvature important ?
an aid in determining the intial cl to be placed on the eye esp in fittings of rigid cl fittings
What can an indication of rapid changes of curvature ?
can be indicative of a compromised cornea and can aid in the diagnosis of Keratconus
What is the measurement of the radius of curvature of the cornea based on ?
the fact that the front surface of the cornea acts as a convex mirror
What is useful to measure in determining the central radius of curvature of cornea ?
measure peripheral radius values - esp in complicated conditions e.g post refractive surgery
How can conventional keratometers be adapted ?
using a peripheral fixation point
Why can keratometers not be used to determine corneal curvatures accurately ?
- if the surface being measured does not have a constant radius of curvature
- not radially symmetrical
So, what has been developed in order to determine corneal curvatures ?
-dedicated instruments using other technologies have been developed to measure overall corneal topographer
What does the keratometre measure ?
measures the curvature along a fixed chord length (2-3mm) lies in the optical spherical zone of the cornea- which is much smaller than the actual corneal diameter (11-12mm)
-should not assume that we can determine the peripheral curvature from this since the cornea flattens from the mid periphery zone outwards
What is a different method to visualise corneal shapes ?
corneal topography
What is the keratometry measurement ?
-Measurement of the anterior curvature
of the cornea in 2 principal meridians
-3mm
What is the keratoscopy / corneal topography measurement ?
-Study of light reflected from the anterior
surface of the cornea ( in 360 degrees) using corneal topography
-8-10mm
What is a limitation of the corneal topography map instrument ?
- it does not cover the whole of the cornea- what does it mean of an average corneal RGP lens - which is 9.5mm in diameter- this instrument does not provide a complete corneal shape analysis over the area which the lens will cover (so the lens is 9.5/10mm in diameter, in the pic the chord is smaller than that)- also in the actual image of the eye- some of these rings are incomplete
- these are missing data points
What are the missing data points due to ?
they are due to a shadow caused by the nose of patient- most software algorithms will fit in any gaps- so the curvature map is able to show a completed circle- so a completed map over the full length of the chord- you can recognise these data point by the small black dots that are in the coloured map imaged.
What are other artefacts caused by ?
the eyelids or the shadow created by the eyebrows, irregular tear film layers, or ruptures (break up to time) which is too short or corneal scars
What is corneal topography ?
also known as keratoscopy
What is the aim of corneal topography / keratoscopy ?
To accurately describe the shape of the corneal surface in all meridians
What is the technique used in corneal topography /keratoscopy ?
- similar to keratometry
- determines the size of the image of a target reflected in the corneal surface
- a series of circular concentric targets are used - placedo disc image - this arrangement allows both central and peripheral curvatures to be measured
What is video keratoscopy ?
-capture the image on a computer - use a sophisticated image processing software to provide immediate analysis of the reflected image