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Updated: Aug 21, 2026
Measurement of Carotenoids in Perifovea using the Macular Pigment Reflectometer
Published on: January 29, 2020
Macular pigment optical density in young Chinese adults
Churk-Yan Tang1, Hoi-Shan Yip, Ming-Yeung Poon
1Department of Optometry and Radiography, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to determine the macular pigment optical density (MPOD) in a group of Chinese subjects using a simple customized light emitting diode-based device.
Methods:
Heterochromatic flicker photometry was used in this study. With a 1 degrees diameter circular test stimulus, MPOD was estimated by comparing the relative sensitivities to a blue light, against a green reference, between foveal and parafoveal 4 degrees temporal locations. Fixed alternating frequencies were used. Repeatability was determined on a small group of subjects. A further group of 67 young healthy subjects provided data for MPOD norms.
Results:
All results were corrected to the common MPOD reference wavelength of 460 nm. The group-averaged MPOD was 0.48 (S.D. 0.23). We found no gender difference in MPOD. The coefficient of variability was 7.2-8.0% and the coefficient of repeatability was 0.12.
Conclusions:
The MPOD of Chinese subjects did not differ greatly from the reported MPOD in white subjects.
