Depth of focus in pseudophakic eyes

Purpose To assess depth of field/depth of focus in pseudophakic eyes as function of visual acuity. Setting: Department of ophthalmology of National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education. Methods Forty-three pseudophakic eyes of 43 patients after implantation in the capsular bag of monofocal posterior chamber IOLs were examined. All patients had visual acuities at least 20/20 for distance. Visual acuity was examined by charts consisting the Landolt’s rings under defined constant illumination within distance from 3 m to 20 cm from patients’ eyes at various distances with difference of 10 cm (29 measurements). Depth of field was calculated in diopters. Results The mean value of the depth of field in pseudophakic eyes with pupil diameter of 3 ± 0.3 mm was as follows: 1.12 D for visual acuity 20/20, 0.62 D for visual acuity 20/13, and 0.47 D for visual acuity 20/10. Conclusions Depth of focus correlates to normal levels of visual acuity. The higher the visual acuity, the lower the depth of focus. The ability of clear vision due to depth of focus-pseudoaccommodation is passive function. Separating the pseudoaccommodation from artificial accommodation in eyes with accommodative IOLs requires strict standardization of methodology especially regarding diameter of pupil, size of test objects, and level of illumination.