The historical evolution of visual acuity measurement

Visual Impairment Research

Volumn 10, Issue 2-3, 2008, Pages 57-66

  Colenbrander, August ^a,b  

^a SMITH KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE   (United States)

^b NONE   (United States)

Author keywords

ETDRS; History; Jaeger; Snellen; Vision rehabilitation; Visual acuity

Indexed keywords

AGING; HISTORY OF MEDICINE; HUMAN; MEDICAL PRACTICE; MEDICAL SPECIALIST; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REVIEW; VISUAL ACUITY;

EID: 58149089087     PISSN: 1388235X     EISSN: 17445167     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13882350802632401     Document Type: Review

References (37)

1. Daza de Valdes B, The use of eye glasses, 1623. See: Hirschberg, History of Ophthalmology, vol 11 (Runge PE ed.). Wayenborgh, Belgium, 2004.
2. Küchler, Schriftnummerproben für Gesichtsleidende, Darmstadt, 1843.
3. Sir William Bowman (1816-1892) practiced at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital (now Mooorfields Hospital). In 1880 he founded the Ophthalmological Society (now the Royal College of Ophthalmologists). He also was a histologist and anatomist; his name is preserved in Bowman's membrane.
4. Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821-1894) is best known for his invention of the ophthalmoscope (1851) and for his work on all aspects of physiologic optics and visual perception. He also contributed to many fields outside ophthalmology.
5. Friederich Wilhelm Ernst Albrecht von Gaefe (1828-1870) studied for three years with the famous ophthalmologists of his time (including in Vienna, Paris, London) before returning to Berlin where he opened his famous eye clinic in 1850; there he taught many young ophthalmologists. He was an excellent surgeon, invented the iridectomy for glaucoma, started Graefe's Archives, still a dominant journal, and was a founder of the German Ophthalmological Society.
6. Duke-Elder S, Franciscus Cornelis Donders, Br J Ophthalm. 1959;43(2): 65-68.
7. Donders FC, On the Anomalies of Accommodation and Refraction, New Sydenham Society, London, 1864.
8. Eduard Jaeger, Ritter von Jaxtthal (1818-1884) was the son of a prominent Viennese ophthalmologist. In addition to his test-types, he is know for an early, very detailed atlas of the ocular fundus.
9. Jaeger E, Schriftskalen, 1854 (first edition)
10. Jaeger E, Ueber Staar und Staaroperationen, LW Seidel, Vienna, 1st ed. 1854.
11. Runge PE, Eduard Jaeger's Test-Types (Schrift-Scalen) and the Historical Development of Vision Tests, Trans Am Ophth Soc. 98:375-438, 2000.
12. Donders made his proposal at the 1861 Heidelberg meeting. Minutes of the Heidelberg meetings only go back to 1863. Donders mentioned his proposal in his 1862 annual report to the trustees of the Eye Infirmary, predicting a strong response to Snellen's charts, based on the response he got in 1861.
13. de Haan V, Onderzoekingen naar de invloed van de leeftijd op de gezichtsscherpte (Research on the influence of age on visual acuity), - Doctoral Dissertation, Utrecht, 1862.
14. Snellen H, Letterproeven tot Bepaling der Gezichtsscherpte, Utrecht, Weyers, 1862 (Dutch edition, also single language editions in German, French, Italian) Also: Optotypi ad Visum Determinandum. Repeated international editions (with texts in Dutch, French, German (gothic and roman type), English, Italian, and Latin), incl. 23rd edition, 1937.
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18. Bennett AG, Ophthalmic test types, Br. J. Physiol. Optics, 22:238-271 (1965).
19. The 1968 British standard proposed sans-serif letters designed on a 4x5 grid, which more closely resembles the proportions of most actual fonts. This was the type style Bailey and Lovie used for their chart. A subsequent revision (2003) went back to Snellen's 5 x 5 grid.
20. Monoyer F, Echelle typographique décimale pour mesurer l'acuité visuelle. Gaz. Med. Paris 21:258 (1875)
21. Monoyer F. - Ann. Oculistiques (Paris) 1872;68:101 - proposed diopter notation.
22. Metric System. Proposed in France in 1789. Legally accepted in France in 1799. Accepted worldwide (including U.S.A.) through the Treaty of the Meter in 1875.
23. Landolt E, Bestimmung der Sehschärfe, in: Die Functionsprüfungen des Auges in: Graefe-Saemisch Handbuch, second edition 1904.
24. Addendum to the 1866 annual report of the Eye Infirmary.
25. Green J, On a new series of test-letters for determining the acuteness of vision,. Transact. Amer. Opth. Soc. 4th meeting 1868, p 68-71. Also: Test letters, Green, Ewing. St. Louis, 1886.
26. A linear (arithmetic) sequence has equal increments between its terms (e.g. 2-4-6-8-10), a logarithmic (geometric) sequence has equal ratios between its terms (e.g. 2-4-8-16-32).
27. Preferred Numbers, ISO standard # 3. Also: DIN standard # 323. In this series 10 steps equal exactly 10x, 3 steps equal about 2x and each step represents about a 4:5 ratio (error < 1%).
28. British Standards Institute. 1968.Test Charts for Determining Distance Visual Acuity. British Standard 4274, London, 1968. Revised: Visual Acuity Test Types. British Standard 4274-1, 2003.
29. Sloan LL, New Test Charts for the Measurement of Visual Acuity at Far and Near Distances,. Am J Ophth. 48:807-813 (1959).
30. Bailey IL, Lovie JE. New Design Principles for Visual Acuity Letter Charts. Am J Optom & Physiol Opt 1976:53:740-745.
31. Ferris FL, Kassov A, Bresnick GH, Bailey IL, New Visual Acuity Charts for Clinical Research, Am J Ophthalmol 1982;94:91-96. Also: Measurement Guidelines for Collaborative Studies. National Eye Institute (NEI), Bethesda, MD.
32. International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO). Visual Standards, Aspects and Ranges of Vision Loss with Emphasis on Population Studies. Sydney, Australia: ICO; 2002. Available as PDF at: www.icoph.org/standards. (Accessed August 2008).
33. Weber EH, De tactu: annotationices et physilogicae (1834), brought to wider attention in: Fechner GT, Elemente de Psychophysik (1860).
34. Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment-American Medical Association, Chicago. 5th ed 2000, 6th ed 2007.
35. Fuhr PSW, Holmes LD, Fletcher DC, et al. The AMA Guides Functional Vision Score is a better predictor of vision-targeted quality of life than traditional measures of visual acuity or visual field extent. Vis Impairment Res. 2003;5(3):137-146.
36. Colenbrander A, Introduction to Visual Acuity Measurement. Precision Vision (2007).
37. Colenbrander A, Measuring Vision and Vision Loss. In Duane's Ophthalmology (vol. 5, chapter 51) 2001 edition.