Austin Roorda

Professor of Vision Science

High resolution retinal imaging, adaptive optics, physiological optics, limits of human vision

The human eye has a complex and exquisitely designed optical system, yet when compared with modern optical systems, its image quality is surprisingly poor. Our lab investigates these earliest stages of vision, from the formation of the retinal image to its sampling by the photoreceptor mosaic.

In our research we develop novel instruments to measure and overcome the optical limits of the eye. For example, we employ adaptive optics — a technology originally developed for astronomical imaging from ground-based telescopes — to correct the eye's aberrations and to image and/or present stimuli to the retina with unprecedented resolution. Overcoming optical limitations with adaptive optics has allowed us to make new discoveries in vision science, from mapping the trichromatic cone mosaic for the first time ever to learning how human visual acuity responds to an aberration correction.

Our most recent effort involves the development and use of the Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) for such clinical applications as blood flow, optical sectioning of the retina, microperimetry, precise measurements of fixation and eye-tracking. We are making instruments more robust, and we are making them more compact using state-of-the-art wavefront correcting technology such as MEMS deformable mirrors. Such non-invasive microscopic imaging techniques promise to improve our ability to track, understand and even treat blinding retinal disease.

Selected Publications

Tam, J., Martin, J. A., Roorda, A., "No--invasive visualization and analysis of parafoveal capillaries in humans" Invest. Ophthalmol.Vis.Sci. 51 (3): 1691-1698 (2010).

Rossi, E .A., Roorda, A. "The relationship between visual resolution and cone spacing in the human fovea" Nature Neuroscience 13, 156-157 (2010).

Sincich, L.C., Zhang, Y., Tiruveedhula, P., Horton, J.C., Roorda, A., "Resolving single cone inputs to visual receptive fields" Nature Neuroscience, 12: 967-969 (2009).

Arathorn D. W., Yang Q., Vogel C. R., Zhang Y., Tiruveedhula P., and Roorda A, "Retinally stabilized cone-targeted stimulus delivery," Opt. Express 15, 13731-13744 (2007).

Duncan, J. L., Zhang, Y., Gandhi ,J., Nakanishi,C., Othman,M., Branham,K.H., Swaroop,A., Roorda,A. "High resolution imaging of foveal cones in patients with inherited retinal degenerations using adaptive optics." Invest.Ophthalmol.Vis.Sci. 48: 3283-3291 (2007).

Roorda, A., Zhang,Y., Duncan,J.L. "High-resolution in vivo imaging of the RPE mosaic in eyes with retinal disease." Invest.Ophthalmol.Vis.Sci. 48(5): 2297-2303 (2007).

Zhang, Y., Poonja, S., Roorda, A. "MEMS-based Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy" Optics Letters, 31, 1268-1270 (2006).

Poonja, S., Patel, S., Henry, L., Roorda, A, "Dynamic visual stimulus presentation in an adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope" Journal of Refractive Surgery 21(5): 575-580 (2005).

Cheng, H., Barnett, J. K., Vilupuru, A .S., Marsack, J .D., Kasthurirangan, S., Applegate, R.A., Roorda, A. "A Population Study on Changes in Wave Aberration with Accommodation" J.Vision 4(4), 272-280 www.journalofvision.org/4/4/3 (2004).

Roorda, A., Romero-Borja, F., Donnelly III, W.J., Queener, H., Hebert, T.J., Campbell, M.C.W. "Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy" Opt. Express 10(9) 405-412 (2002).

Wilson, B. J., Decker, K .E., Roorda, A. "Monochromatic Aberrations Provide and Odd-Error Cue to Focus Direction" J.Opt.Soc.Am.A. 19(5) 833-839 (2002).

Roorda, A., Williams, D. R. "The Arrangement of the Three Cone Classes in the Living Human Eye" Nature 397: 520-522 (1999).

Roorda, A., Bobier, W. R., Campbell, M.C.W. "Slope-based Eccentric Photorefraction: Theoretical Analysis of Different Light Source Configurations and Effects of Ocular Aberrations", J. Opt. Soc. Am. A. 14: 2547-2556 (1997).

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