Laboratory Evaluation of a Clinical Glare Tester

Abstract

A glare sensitivity tester has been designed to be used in a clinical setting. The report describes how the basic variables in the device were arrived at (ie, glare source, intensity, shape, testing distance, angle between target and glare source, target size, and ambient lighting conditions). Finally, the report describes the glare sensitivity and visual acuity determined on a series of subjects who took the tests looking through a series of optical cells of varying turbidity. The turbid optical cells were used in order to simulate progressive degrees of corneal clouding. The results indicated the mild degrees of turbidity increase glare sensitivity but do not affect visual acuity. As turbidity increases, glare sensitivity increases but at a reduced rate, whereas visual acuity suffers at a rapid rate.