Contour mapping of spectacle lenses.

The measurement of spectacle lenses by conventional focimeters and automated focimeters assesses only a small region of the lens, and only the power and related data at that point are indicated. In this paper, two methods based on optical Fourier filtering and optical correlation are suggested for contour-mapping the deviations of a spectacle lens over its whole aperture. The fringe pattern appearing on the lens image depicts vividly the characteristics of the tested lens. All the related data are qualitatively seen at a glance and can be calculated from the fringe distribution. Furthermore, the optical processing of the fringes by defocusing is described; thus, the fringes can be continuously changed by shifting the illuminating point source or mask. The shift indicates the spherical power needed to decrease or increase the lens fringes. In addition, a fringe-reading technique is suggested by counting the number of the fringes within a reticle ring. Therefore, the sphere power, cylinder power, cylinder axis, prism power, and prism orientation can be obtained from the reading of the fringes, the shift position, or their combination with a high accuracy. The methods are suitable not only to sphere, spherocylinder, and prism lenses but also to multifocus and progressive power lenses. The suggestion provides a practical way to measure spectacle lenses over the whole aperture.