Chromatic aberration and polychromatic image quality with diffractive multifocal intraocular lenses

PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of target distance on polychromatic image quality in a virtual model eye implanted with hybrid refractive-diffractive intraocular lenses (IOLs). SETTING: School of Optometry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA. DESIGN: Experimental study. METHODS: A pseudophakic model eye was constructed by incorporating a phase-delay map for a diffractive optical element into a reduced eye model incorporating ocular chromatic aberration, pupil apodization, and higher-order monochromatic aberrations. The diffractive element was a monofocal IOL with a +3.2 diopter (D) diffractive power or 2 types of bifocal IOLs (nonapodized or apodized) with a +2.92 D addition (add) power. Polychromatic point-spread functions and image quality for white and monochromatic light were quantified for a series of target vergences, wavelengths, and pupil diameters using modulation transfer functions and image-quality metrics. RESULTS: Ocular longitudinal chromatic aberration was largely corrected by the monofocal design and by both bifocal designs for near targets. In the bifocal design, add power and the ratio of distance:near image quality changed significantly with wavelength and pupil size. Also, image quality for distance was better with the apodized design. CONCLUSIONS: Achromatization by the diffractive IOL provided significant improvement in polychromatic retinal image quality. Along with apodization and higher-order aberrations, it can significantly affect the near-distance balance provided by a diffractive multifocal IOL. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.