Healthcare professionals and scientists have carefully prepared this ALtruis Biomedical Network-affiliated site, intended for informational purposes only . When a patient is examined by an opthalmologist, the doctor is subjectively assessing visual acuity, color vision and visual fields as well as general ocular health.
Visual acuity is the degree to which the details and contours of objects are perceived.
This requires the eye to detect an object and resolve it into its component parts after which the information is transmitted to the cerebral cortex for processing against various memory shapes. These measurements represent distance acuity. Near vision is evaluated by reading a printed card with different sizes of standardized print. Accommodation and magnification are more important in near vision. Color vision is clinically evaluated most commonly by Ishihara test plates or mechanical or computerized tests that require the patient to place colored objects in chromatic order.