Publication Cover
Visual Impairment Research
The official publication of the International Society for Low-vision Research and Rehabilitation ISL
Volume 10, 2008 - Issue 2-3
208
Views
29
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
ARTICLES

The Historical Evolution of Visual Acuity Measurement

Pages 57-66 | Accepted 27 Oct 2008, Published online: 26 Aug 2009

REFERENCES

  • Daza de Valdes B. The use of eye glasses. 1623, See: Hirschberg, History of Ophthalmology, vol 11 (Runge PE ed.). Wayenborgh, Belgium, 2004.
  • Küchler. Schriftnummerproben für Gesichtsleidende. Darmstadt 1843
  • Sir William Bowman (1816–1892) practiced at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital (now Mooorfields Hospital). In 1880 he founded the Ophthalmological Society (now the Royal College of Ophthalmologists). He also was a histologist and anatomist; his name is preserved in Bowman's membrane
  • Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821–1894) is best known for his invention of the ophthalmoscope (1851) and for his work on all aspects of physiologic optics and visual perception. He also contributed to many fields outside ophthalmology
  • Friederich Wilhelm Ernst Albrecht von Gaefe (1828–1870) studied for three years with the famous ophthalmologists of his time (including in Vienna, Paris, London) before returning to Berlin where he opened his famous eye clinic in 1850; there he taught many young ophthalmologists. He was an excellent surgeon, invented the iridectomy for glaucoma, started Graefe's Archives, still a dominant journal, and was a founder of the German Ophthalmological Society
  • Duke-Elder S. Franciscus Cornelis Donders. Br J Ophthalm 1959; 43(2)65–68
  • Donders F C. On the Anomalies of Accommodation and Refraction. New Sydenham Society, London 1864
  • Eduard Jaeger, Ritter von Jaxtthal (1818–1884) was the son of a prominent Viennese ophthalmologist. In addition to his test-types, he is know for an early, very detailed atlas of the ocular fundus
  • Jaeger E. Schriftskalen. 1854, (first edition)
  • Jaeger E. Ueber Staar und Staaroperationen, 1st ed. LW Seidel, Vienna 1854
  • Runge P E. Eduard Jaeger's Test-Types (Schrift-Scalen) and the Historical Development of Vision Tests. Trans Am Ophth Soc 2000; 98: 375–438
  • Donders made his proposal at the 1861 Heidelberg meeting. Minutes of the Heidelberg meetings only go back to 1863. Donders mentioned his proposal in his 1862 annual report to the trustees of the Eye Infirmary, predicting a strong response to Snellen's charts, based on the response he got in 1861
  • de Haan V. Onderzoekingen naar de invloed van de leeftijd op de gezichtsscherpte (Research on the influence of age on visual acuity). Doctoral Dissertation, Utrecht 1862
  • Snellen H. Letterproeven tot Bepaling der Gezichtsscherpte. Weyers, Utrecht 1862, (Dutch edition, also single language editions in German, French, Italian) Also: Optotypi ad Visum Determinandum. Repeated international editions (with texts in Dutch, French, German (gothic and roman type), English, Italian, and Latin), incl. 23rd edition, 1937
  • Elliott D B, Yang K CH, Whitaker D. Visual acuity changes throughout adulthood in normal healthy eyes: seeing beyond 6/6. Optom Vis Sci 1995; 72: 186–191
  • Haegerstrom-Portnoy G, Schneck M E, Brabyn J A. Seeing into Old Age: Vision Function Beyond Acuity. Optom and Vision Sci 1999; 76(3)141–158
  • Taylor H R. Applying new Design Principles to the Construction of an Illiterate E chart. Am J Optom Physiol Optics 1978; 55: 348–351
  • Bennett A G. Ophthalmic test types. Br. J. Physiol. Optics 1965; 22: 238–271
  • The 1968 British standard proposed sans-serif letters designed on a 4x5 grid, which more closely resembles the proportions of most actual fonts. This was the type style Bailey and Lovie used for their chart. A subsequent revision (2003) went back to Snellen's 5 × 5 grid
  • Monoyer F. Echelle typographique décimale pour mesurer l'acuité visuelle. Gaz. Med. Paris 1875; 21: 258
  • Monoyer F. Ann. Oculistiques (Paris) 1872; 68: 101, —proposed diopter notation
  • Metric System. Proposed in France in 1789. Legally accepted in France in 1799. Accepted worldwide (including U.S.A.) through the Treaty of the Meter in 1875
  • Landolt E. Bestimmung der Sehschärfe. Die Functionsprüfungen des Augesin: Graefe-Saemisch Handbuch, second edition. 1904
  • Addendum to the 1866 annual report of the Eye Infirmary
  • Green J. On a new series of test-letters for determining the acuteness of vision. Transact. Amer. Opth. Soc. 4th meeting 1868. 68–71, Also: Test letters, Green, Ewing. St. Louis, 1886
  • A linear (arithmetic) sequence has equal increments between its terms (e.g. 2-4-6-8-10), a logarithmic (geometric) sequence has equal ratios between its terms (e.g. 2-4-8-16-32)
  • Preferred Numbers, ISO standard # 3. Also: DIN standard # 323. In this series 10 steps equal exactly 10x, 3 steps equal about 2x and each step represents about a 4:5 ratio (error < 1%)
  • British Standards Institute. Test Charts for Determining Distance Visual Acuity. 1968, British Standard 4274, London, 1968. Revised: Visual Acuity Test Types. British Standard 4274–1, 2003
  • Sloan L L. New Test Charts for the Measurement of Visual Acuity at Far and Near Distances. Am J Ophth 1959; 48: 807–813
  • Bailey I L, Lovie J E. New Design Principles for Visual Acuity Letter Charts. Am J Optom & Physiol Opt 1976; 53: 740–745
  • Ferris F L, Kassov A, Bresnick G H, Bailey I L. New Visual Acuity Charts for Clinical Research. Am J Ophthalmol 1982; 94: 91–96, Also: Measurement Guidelines for Collaborative Studies. National Eye Institute (NEI), Bethesda, MD
  • International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO). Visual Standards, Aspects and Ranges of Vision Loss with Emphasis on Population Studies. ICO, SydneyAustralia 2002, Available as PDF at: www.icoph.org/standards (Accessed August 2008)
  • Weber E H. De tactu: annotation ices et physilogicae (1834), brought to wider attention. Fechner GT, Elemente de Psychophy sik. 1860
  • Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, 5th ed 2000, 6th ed. American Medical Association, Chicago 2007
  • Fuhr P SW, Holmes L D, Fletcher D C, et al. The AMA Guides Functional Vision Score is a better predictor of vision-targeted quality of life than traditional measures of visual acuity or visual field extent. Vis Impairment Res 2003; 5: 137–146
  • Colenbrander A. Introduction to Visual Acuity Measurement. Precision Vision. 2007
  • Colenbrander A. Measuring Vision and Vision Loss. Duane's Ophthalmology (vol. 5, chapter 51) 2001 edition

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.