Poster Session: Assessing the relationship between the cone mosaic and AO-corrected visual acuity.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Retinal Imaging
• Visual Neuroscience

Background:

• Adaptive optics (AO) enables near diffraction-limited stimuli delivery to the human retina.
• Assessing the relationship between cone mosaic structure and visual function is crucial for understanding retinal health.
• Establishing device-specific control data is essential for future studies in individuals with retinal diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish device-specific control data for adaptive optics (AO) studies.
• To quantify the cone mosaic and measure visual acuity in healthy individuals.
• To compare observed visual acuity with acuity predicted by foveal cone spacing.

Main Methods:

• Used AO scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) to quantify cone mosaic density in 18 healthy participants.
• Measured visual acuity using an AO-corrected Snellen E chart via a QUEST-driven task.
• Calculated predicted acuity based on foveal cone spacing within the bivariate contour ellipse area.

Main Results:

• Average cone density at the centroid was 186,925 cones/mm^2.
• Mean observed visual acuity was -0.23 (±0.08) logMAR, while mean predicted acuity was -0.30 (±0.03) logMAR.
• Observed acuity was worse than predicted acuity in 12 out of 18 individuals, with a mean observed:predicted ratio of 0.78.

Conclusions:

• Significant variation exists between observed and predicted visual acuity based on foveal cone spacing in healthy individuals.
• Further investigation is needed to understand factors influencing AO-based visual acuity measures.
• These findings provide essential control data for future research on retinal diseases using adaptive optics.