Age-related changes of lens thickness and density in different age phases

AIM: To explore the changes in lens thickness and density with age.METHODS: A Chinese population-based retrospective study was performed. A total of 497 individuals(490 right eyes and 495 left eyes), ranging from 3 to 69 years old were included. Lens images obtained from IOL Master 700 were used to measure lens thickness and density. Piecewise regression model was chosen to illustrate the relationship of lens thickness and density with age.RESULTS: The proportion of people aged 3-18, 19-40, over 40 was 38.6%, 50.9% and 10.5% respectively. The whole lens thickness decreased with age during the first 7 years of life, kept stable from 8 to 16 years old, and then increased at the rate of about 27 μm per year. The thickness of the lens cortex and nucleus tended to decrease first and then increase with age, which was dependent on age stages. The whole lens density also decreased with age until 7 years old. The increasing rate of lens density was different in different age groups. The whole lens density increased rapidly from 7 to 22 years old and slowed down after 22 years old. Similarly, the changing tendency of lens cortical and nuclear density differed in different age phases. CONCLUSION: Both lens thickness and density are significantly associated with age, whereas they do not change linearly with age. Moreover, it is necessary to increase the population over 40 years old and conduct further research.

Lens density measurements by two independent psychophysical techniques

Background:Cataract,a leading cause of vision impairment,is due to the lens becoming excessively optically dense.Change in the lens optical density(LOD)could be a useful indicator of incipient nuclear cataract and would necessitate the development of accurate measurement techniques.Mapcat sf^(TM) is a heterochromatic flicker photometer for measuring macular pigment optical density(MPOD)under photopic conditions.In the process,it also measures LOD that is needed in the calculation of MPOD.LOD is then converted by the instrument to“lens equivalent age”(LEA).However,varying cone photoreceptor ratios among individuals could affect the LEA measurement.Scotopic vision is mediated by rod photoreceptors;therefore,LEA measurement under scotopic conditions potentially provides a reliable standard for assessing other methods.The study was conducted to test the level of agreement between the LEA data obtained under photopic and scotopic conditions for a sample population.We also comment on factors that might contribute to any disagreement.Methods:LEAs were obtained by Mapcat sf for 25 subjects and compared with those obtained under absolute scotopic threshold conditions.Results:The mean scotopic LEA for the subjects was 2.7 years higher than the mean photopic LEA,but this difference was not statistically significant.Measurements by the two methods were reasonably correlated(r 2=0.59,p<0.0001).Significant individual differences in LEA by the two methods were found for six of the 25 subjects.Although our calculations included a standard long-to medium-wavelength-sensitive cone ratio,we found that different ratios could be found that rendered the differences in LEA insignificant for two of these six subjects.Variability in pupil diameter during scotopic measurements was considered another potential source of discrepancy between LEAs by the two methods.Conclusion:The absolute threshold technique,with long adaptation times,is probably impractical for routine lens density measurement,whereas Mapcat sf provided a rapid,straightforward test that may find its application in optometric/ophthalmic practice.

Optics System Design of Microwave Imaging Reflectometry for the EAST Tokamak

A front-end optics system has been developed for the EAST microwave imaging reflectometry for 2D density fluctuation measurement.Via the transmitter optics system,a combination of eight transmitter beams with independent frequencies is employed to illuminate wide poloidal regions on eight distinct cutoff layers.The receiver optics collect the reflected wavefront and project them onto the vertical detector array with 12 antennas.Utilizing optimized Field Curvature adjustment lenses in the receiver optics,the front-end optics system provides a flexible and perfect matching between the image plane and a specified cutoff layer in the plasma,which ensures the correct data interpretation of density fluctuation measurement.