Several studies and many anecdotal reports indicate that aircrew members focus night vision goggle (NVG) eyepiece lenses to more negative powers than would be expected based on refractive error, presumably due to instrument myopia, "dark focus" myopia, and other factors. Excessive negative power stimulates accommodation, introducing risks from discomfort, fatigue, and blurred vision. Aircrew members are trained to employ specific adjustment techniques to minimize "over-minusing" of eyepiece lens powers, but those techniques are prone to error.
The currently fielded AN/AVS-9 NVG (F4949) has a focus range of (+2.0) to (-6.0) diopters, and meets the needs of most aircrew. However, the new AN/AVS-10 NVG panoramic night vision goggle (PNVG) has a fixed focus of (-1.0) diopters due to engineering design constraints. Accessory snap-on lenses are available, but data are needed to optimize the distribution of lens powers to be acquired and maintained.
This study involved the characterization of vision (visual acuity, perceived quality, and comfort) as a function of: 1) eyepiece focus setting using trial lenses; 2) F4949 eyepiece focus adjustments using a point source vs. a Hoffman 20/20 box; and 3) PNVG eyepiece lens selections using a lens bar vs. snap-on lens selections. Eight subjects with normal (20/20 corrected) vision ranging in age from 23 years to 49 participated in this study. The experiments were conducted in the Aerospace Vision Experimental Laboratory and the Dynamic Vision Assessment Facility at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio using F4949 and PNVG devices with a custom-designed NVG-compatible computer-based visual acuity acquisition system.
The AN/AVS-9 night vision goggle (NVG) has an eyepiece lens that can be adjusted from +2 to -6 diopters (D). We have shown previously1,2,3 that on average NVG users tend to select about -1D, with a range of +0.5D to -4D3. This study was designed to evaluate NVG visual acuity (NVG VA) and subjective ratings for a range of diopter settings including user-selected and three fixed settings of -0.25D, -1D and -2D. Twenty-one experienced USAF Special Operations aircrew members, including 15 pilots, served as subjects. The median user-selected setting was -1.25D and ranged from +0.5D to -3.5D. Only 2 of the 21 subjects had user-selected NVG VA significantly better than a fixed setting of -1D. Of those two, one was not wearing prescribed glasses and the other was 49 years old, presbyopic, and could not focus through the -1D lenses. Subjective ratings and NVG VA indicated that most people could fly with a fixed setting of -1D for each eye, although two individuals needed different diopter settings for the right and left eyes. The new Panoramic NVG (PNVG) has a fixed eyepiece focus of -1D. Results suggest the PNVG should have a limited set of accessory lenses available.
John Taboada, David Gaines, Mary Perez, Steve Waller, Douglas Ivan, J. Bruce Baldwin, Frank LoRusso, Ronald Tutt, B. Thompson, Jose Perez, Thomas Tredici, Dan Johnson
In our study, a group of 80 United States Air Force, non- flying personnel will undergo photorefractive corneal surgery for moderate levels of myopia (< 6 diopters) and 20 will serve as controls. As of this report, approximately 56 have had the treatment. Of these, only about 59% of the treated eyes showed even a trace (.5) level of clinically assessed haze at any time. We report on the use of a recently developed instrument designed for the objective measurement of these low levels of haze in treated corneas. The sensitivity of the instrument is derived from the use of a scanning confocal slit photon counter. The use of a physical standard for calibration secures accuracy and reproducibility over an extensive period of time. Our haze measurements in this study revealed a very low level increase from baseline values for these patients. The typical increase over baseline was of the same magnitude as the variability in the observations, although the inherent variability in the measurements was approximately 0.25 times the value of the patient's haze variability.
John Taboada, David Gaines, Mary Perez, Steve Waller, Douglas Ivan, J. Bruce Baldwin, Frank LoRusso, Ronald Tutt, Jose Perez, Thomas Tredici, Dan Johnson
Increased corneal light scatter or 'haze' has been associated with excimer laser photorefractive surgery of the cornea. The increased scatter can affect visual performance; however, topical steroid treatment post surgery substantially reduces the post PRK scatter. For the treatment and monitoring of the scattering characteristics of the cornea, various methods have been developed to objectively measure the magnitude of the scatter. These methods generally can measure scatter associated with clinically observable levels of haze. For patients with moderate to low PRK corrections receiving steroid treatment, measurement becomes fairly difficult as the haze clinical rating is non observable. The goal of this development was to realize an objective, non-invasive physical measurement that could produce a significant reading for any level including the background present in a normal cornea. As back-scatter is the only readily accessible observable, the instrument is based on this measurement. To achieve this end required the use of a confocal method to bias out the background light that would normally confound conventional methods. A number of subjects with nominal refractive errors in an Air Force study have undergone PRK surgery. A measurable increase in corneal scatter has been observed in these subjects whereas clinical ratings of the haze were noted as level zero. Other favorable aspects of this back-scatter based instrument include an optical capability to perform what is equivalent to an optical A-scan of the anterior chamber. Lens scatter can also be measured.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.