Effect of Chromatic Aberration on White-Light Contrast Sensitivity With Higher-Order Monochromatic Aberrations Correction in the Human Eye in Screen-Based Vision

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate, through theoretical modeling and experiment, the effect of chromatic aberration (CA) on white-light contrast sensitivity (CS) when higher-order aberrations (HOAs) are corrected in the human eye in screen-based vision. Methods: Monochromatic aberrations and CA were measured in 10 subjects with normal color vision using an adaptive optics vision simulator (AOVS) under 6 mm pupil diameter. The modulation transfer function (MTF) was calculated for 6 conditions: with and without HOAs under monochromatic red, monochromatic green, and white-light, using 519 nm green light as the best-focus reference. Subsequently, white-light CS was measured under three best-focus conditions and green-light CS was measured under the green-light best-focus condition, both before and after HOAs correction. Results: The presence of HOAs significantly improved the MTF under both green and white illumination in the presence of CA. Furthermore, the MTFs were approximately constant across red, green, and white-light conditions when HOAs were included. Under three best-focus conditions, white-light logCS demonstrated a significant decline following HOAs correction (P < 0.01). Under green-light best-focus condition, green-light logCS demonstrated a significant improvement following HOAs correction (P = 0.001). Conclusions: The results indicate that the presence of CA in the human eye can influence the outcomes of HOAs correction in screen-based vision. Prior to implementing only HOAs correction in clinical practice, it is necessary to evaluate the effect of CA varying with individuals using an AOVS. Translational Relevance: This research bridges the gap between optical theory and clinical practice, thereby guiding the refinement of wavefront-guided surgeries and personalized intraocular lenses.