THE EXPECTED VISUAL OUTCOME (EVO) MODEL - METHODOLOGY AND CLINICAL VALIDATION

Problem. If changes are made to the optics of the eye (e.g., intraocul ar lens implants, contact lenses, etc.) how will they affect performan ce on clinical tests of vision? Method. A phenomenological method is p resented based on in vitro optical transfer function (OTF) and a simpl e model of human threshold detection. Results. The model is used to pr edict and the results are compared with clinical data (acuity, contras t sensitivity) obtained from pseudophakic patients implanted with a mu ltifocal intraocular lens (IOL). A good qualitative agreement is found with the clinical data. Significance. This model predicts the relativ e change in clinical performance for a given change in the optical com ponents of the human eye. This simple phenomenological model permits n umerical prediction of clinical tests and is easily calculable.