Assessment of Image Quality Using a Pseudophakic Eye Model for Refractive Evaluation

In the refractive assessment by optical evaluation based on ray-tracing, the definition of the best focus plane remains a challenge. We simulated 100 pseudophakic eye models using a Montecarlo analysis with ray-tracing evaluation. The image quality resulting from optimization with the Visual Strehl ratio computed in frequency domain weighted by the neural contrast sensitivity function (VSMTF), a metric that has been shown to have a good correlation with defocus detection by the human eye, and with the Root-Mean-Square of Wavefront (RMSW) error, the most commonly used optimization metric, was assessed. For objective assessment, we designed an index to detect increasing stages of defocus. For subjective assessment, we designed a force choice test that was completed by 20 observers. Results show that both for objective and subjective evaluation, VSMTF performed better than RMSW. Therefore, VSMTF is a good metric for the refractive assessment of human eye models with ray-tracing.