THE LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO APPLY NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO DEVELOPMENT OF AN INSTRUMENT, THE CORNEAL SCANNER, THAT WILL EASILY MEASURE THE CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL CURVATURES OF THE CORNEA AND NOT BE AFFECTED BY DISTORTION OF THE CORNEA.

THE LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO APPLY NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO DEVELOPMENT OF AN INSTRUMENT, THE CORNEAL SCANNER, THAT WILL EASILY MEASURE THE CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL CURVATURES OF THE CORNEA AND NOT BE AFFECTED BY DISTORTION OF THE CORNEA. CURRENT INSTRUMENTS CAN ONLY MEASURE THE CENTRAL 25% OF THE CORNEA AND CANNOT BE EFFECTIVELY USED IF THE CORNEA IS DISTORTED. HAVING AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE THE ENTIRE CORNEAL CURVATURE IS VALUABLE IN EXAMINING FOR CONTACT LENSES, IN SURGERIES THAT MODIFY THE CORNEAL CURVATURE (CATARACT EXTRACTION, CORNEAL TRANSPLANT, ASTIGMATIC PROCEDURES, RADIAL KERATOTOMY), IN KERATOCONUS AND CONDITIONS THAT CREATE AN IRREGULAR CORNEAL SURFACE AS SCARS, EDEMA, ABRASIONS, AND KERATITIS. THE SCANNER CONSISTS OF A SPECIAL TELEVISION THE READOUT TELLS THE STEEPEST AND FLATTEST MERIDIANS, THE AMOUNT AND AXIS OF THE ASTIGMATISM IF PRESENT, THE CURVATURES OF THE PERIPHERAL CORNEA, AND A CONTOUR MAP OF THE CORNEA. PHASE I WILL CONSIST OF DIGITIZING THE TV IMAGES OF THE CORNEA, DEVELOPING SOFTWARE TO BE ABLE TO ANALYZE THE DIGITIZED DATA, AND SPECIFYING PHASE II WILL CONSIST OF CONSTRUCTING AND CLINICALLY TESTING THE PROTOTYPE SYSTEM. THE CORNEAL SCANER WILL BE USED BY OPTHALMOLOGISTS, OPTOMETRISTS, AND OPTICIANS.