BASIC OPTICS

PRESENTATION BY
MR. JOSHUA K. AGOTSE
OPHTHALMIC NURSE/REFRACTIONIST
BRYANT MISSION HOSPITAL, OBUASI.
DDNS
CONTENTS

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Basic Optics
• 3. Vision and Visual Acuity
• 4. Refractive Errors
• 5. Correction of Ametropia
• 6. Accommodation
• 7. Presbyopia
• 8. The Written Prescription
• 9. Neutralisation and Focimetry
• 10. Transposition
• 11. Best Sphere
• 12. Retinoscopy
• 13. The Crossed Cylinder Lens
• 14. Refraction Routine
• 15. Cycloplegia
• 16. When to Prescribe
• 17. Optical Lenses
• 18. Spectacle Dispensing
. INTRODUCTION

• For many of our patients, the major diagnosis

will be the need for glasses. Many more
patients need to be assessed for glasses before
an accurate diagnosis can be made.
• The ability to refract a patient quickly and
accurately must, therefore, be a great asset in
your clinic.
 CONT.
• This manual is designed to help you
understand about refractive errors, to
guide you in refracting a patient
accurately, and determine what treatment
the patient needs.
BASIC OPTICS
• Everything we see is seen because light is
reflected from it.
• The object itself does not produce light
(unless it is a light source!).
• This explains why we cannot see in the
dark - there is no light to reflect from
objects.
• A BEAM of light consist of light
RAYS, which are shown as straight
lines in optical diagrams. A beam of
light can be PARALLEL,
DIVERGENT or CONVERGENT.
• The rays from a spot or point source
of light are divergent, but if looked at
from a distance may be considered to
be parallel.
LIGHT CAN BE REFLECTED OR REFRACTED

• REFLECTION of light occurs from

surfaces, most notably mirrors.
• The Law of Reflection states that - ‘the
angle of reflection is equal to the angle of
incidence’.
• This means that, if a ray of light hits a mirror
at a certain angle, it will bounce away at an
equal angle.
• REFRACTION of light is the change of
direction a ray takes when the ray passes
from one medium (e.g. air) to another
medium with a different refractive index
(e.g. glass).
• The refractive index is a measure of how
well the medium is able to bend light.
Light can be refracted by lenses or prisms which
are made from transparent materials such as glass
and optical plastic.
 PRISMS
• A prism is a wedge shaped piece of glass
with 3 flat surfaces at angles to each other.
One surface forms the base and the other 2
surfaces meet at the apex.
• The angle at the apex is called the apical
angle, and the bigger this angle is, the greater
the refracting power of the prism. Prism
power is measured in Prism Dioptres.
Definition
•A one Prism Dioptre lens will refract light
by 1.cm over a distance of 1 metre (100 cm).
• A prism will deviate light passing
through it towards the base of the
prism, and an object viewed through
the lens will appear to be displaced
towards the apex of the prism.
OPTICAL LENSES

• A lens has at least one curved surface.

Optical lenses normally have both surfaces
curved.
• Whilst a prism deviates light, a lens will
focus light.
• Light will be refracted at BOTH surfaces of
a lens, and the amount of refraction will be
related to the refractive index and
curvature of the surfaces.
• A higher refractive index produces more
refraction, as does steeper curvature. The power of
a lens is measured in Dioptres.
• Definition
• A one dioptre lens will focus light at one metre
(100 cm).
• This is written as 1.00 DS.
• The FORMULA relating POWER and
FOCAL LENGTH is
•P=1/f
• where P is the power and f is the focal
length of the lens in metres. It can also be
written
•f=1/P
• Thus a 1.00 DS lens has a focal length of 1
metre (100 cm) and a 10.00 DS lens has a
focal length of 0.1 metre (10 cm).
• As far as we are concerned it is easier and
better for us to think in centimetres rather
than metres. This makes the formula
• P = 100 / f
• or
• f = 100 / P
• where f is now measured in centimetres.
• This formula is vital for much of the work we
do. You must be able to use it freely, being
able to convert focal length to dioptric power,
and from dioptric power to focal length.