Observation of Laser Standing Wave Patterns to Determine Refractive Status

This paper reports the results of subjective determination of refractive status using laser standing wave patterns as targets with conventional techniques. Two small groups of children were used as subjects in an investigation of the use of the laser target as a screening technique. This technique was found to be less efficient than was retinoscopy for quick and relatively accurate determination of refractive state. However, there was no evidence to indicate that the use of laser targets would not be a satisfactory technique for determining the limits of various ranges of refractive state for a large number of subjects at a given time. This possibility of the use of the laser pattern for mass screening or rough estimates of refractive state for large groups bears further investigation. When the laser technique was compared to conventional techniques in an individual patient examination setting the results correlated quite closely with retinoscope and subjective techniques. When differences were found, the laser results consistently agreed more closely with results of the subjective examination than with retinoscopy. It was concluded that the laser technique represents a satisfactory method for determining refractive status when made part of a routine examination procedure.