Measurements of retinal aerial image modulation (AIM) for white light based on wave-front aberration of human eye

The aerial image modulation (AIM) curve of retina under the condition of white light is obtained based on the wave-front aberration of human eye. According to the relationship between the wavelength and defocus, we modify the monochromatic wave-front aberration data to calculate the modulation transfer function (MTF) of human eye in the white-light illumination. Combined with the measurement of contrast sensitivity function (CSF) for complete eye and visual acuity (VA) under the same luminance condition, we deduce the AIM curve in natural light. We find that AIM varies slightly at lower and intermediate spatial frequencies among different eyes; at higher frequencies AIM is the predominant factor for VA when the wave-front aberration is not significant. In addition, retinal AIM is expressed in terms of neural contrast sensitivity function (NCSF) which is the clinical valuable for ophthalmologists. Considering the real illumination circumstance, it is of practical significance to obtain the AIM curve and NCSF curve under white-light condition.