Explaining Ametropia :
Explaining Ametropia Ametropia is…..
“An anomaly of the refractive state of the eye, in which the image of an object at infinity is not formed on the retina”
Dictionary of Optometry and Visual Science, Michel Millodot
In other words, a person who has ametropia does not see a clear image of a distant object.
Ernie the Emmetrope :
Ernie the Emmetrope Some people don’t have ametropia at all, such as…. Ernie the Emmetrope!
Emmetropia :
Emmetropia Ernie’s eyes are emmetropic, the image of an object at infinity IS formed at his retina:
So when Ernie spots Prof Manahilov walking down the corridor, he is perfectly in focus.
Mhairi the Myope :
Mhairi the Myope Other people have a form of ametropia called myopia, introducing…. Mhairi the Myope!
Myopia :
Myopia Mhairi’s eyes are myopic, the image of an object at infinity is formed before her retina, resulting in a blur circle at her retina.
So to Mhairi, Prof Manahilov appears blurry
Harry the Hyperope :
Harry the Hyperope Another form of ametropia is hyperopia (which is also known as hypermetropia, but we’ll be sticking to the shorter version), such as... Harry the Hyperope!
Hyperopia :
Hyperopia Harry’s eyes are hyperopic, the image of an object at infinity is formed after his retina. Like Mhairi, this also results in a blur circle at his retina. Prof Manahilov is again blurry.
What did we learn? :
What did we learn? So what did we learn in this podcast?
There are 3 basic refractive states of the eye:
Emmetropia – Image focused at the retina
Myopia – Image focused before the retina
Hyperopia – Image focused after the retina