Adaptive correction of human-eye aberrations in a subjective feedback loop

An adaptive optical system with a subjective feedback loop is used to improve the visual acuity and to determine the aberrations of the human eye. Corrections of as many as 12 low-order aberration modes were made, based on the perceived sharpness of the test object observed through the adaptive optical system. The acuity of vision was improved by adjustment of the weights of the orthogonal modes produced by a deformable mirror. Objective measurements of the correcting aspherical figures, obtained in independent subjective correction cycles for one person, demonstrated good repeatability. Participants in the study with strong ocular aberrations reported moderate to significant improvement of their visual acuity, estimated with the U.S. Air Force 1951 acuity chart.