The eye is a highly specialized optical system.  Its proper function requires tradeoffs between image quality at a single wavelength and the need to operate over a wide range of conditions.  Retinal image quality is determined by both the refractive elements of the eye (cornea and lens) and the cone photoreceptors.   The cone photoreceptors play a critical role, since they preferentially capture light from a particular location in the pupil, and because they discretely sample the retinal image.  The interaction of cones with the refractive properties of the eye is not well understood, and is highly variable across individuals.  Understanding this interaction has high clinical relevance, since over 1,000,000 patients a year are undergoing some form of refractive surgery. Refractive surgery does not yet take into account the large intra-subject variations. 

The Burns Lab is involved in two main areas of research.  In the first, we are attempting to understand the sources of individual variability in the retinal image, and how these impact vision.  In the second, we are using the ability to measure the optical quality of the eye to improve retinal imaging.  Specifically, we are using an Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope to image the retina at high resolution.  By controlling how the light is sampled, we can obtain excellent images of cones, as well as study the distribution of light scatter within the retina.

 Federal Grant Support

NEI  EY04395, "Investigations of Human Cone Photoreceptor Alignment"

NEI  - R01 NEI – RO1 EY14, Adaptive Optics Instrumentation for Advanced Ophthalmic Imaging.  (Subcontract PI, David William, PI).

Tom Bifano, Francois Delori, Ann Elsner, John Flannery, Dan Ferguson, Dan Hammer, Susana Marcos, Jamie McLellan, Rafael Navarro, Murray Penney, Austin Roorda, Pedro Prieto, Keith Thompson, Vas Sadda, Robert H. Webb Dave Williams,

Past and Present Lab Members and Trainees