In vivo increase of the human lens equatorial diameter during accommodation

The movement of the human lens equator during accommodation was examined in vivo. High-resolution ultrasound images of the lens equator were obtained from young human subjects whose amplitude of accommodation was controlled with 1% tropicamide and 2% pilocarpine. To avoid errors that otherwise arise from eye rotation or other movement, the cornea and sclera were used as positional references in comparative studies of the video images obtained from the unaccommodated and accommodated states. During accommodation, the movement at the lens equator involved small displacement; i.e., < 100 microns, and the equator did not move anteriorly or posteriorly but peripherally toward the sclera. These results indicate that the lens equator is under increased zonular tension during accommodation, in contradiction to Helmholtz's widely accepted theory of accommodation.