CONTRAST SENSITIVITY

Course overview

CONTRAST SENSITIVITY (CS) IS THE ABILITY TO PERCEIVE SHARP AND CLEAR OUTLINES OF VERY SMALL OBJECTS. IT IS ALSO DEFINED AS THE ABILITY TO IDENTIFY MINUTE DIFFERENCES IN THE SHADINGS AND PATTERNS. CS HELPS DETECT OBJECTS WITHOUT A CLEAR OUTLINE AND DISTINGUISH THEM FROM THEIR BACKGROUND CONTRAST. THE PROPOSED MECHANISM FOR CS IS THE NEURONAL THEORY, THE CHANNEL THEORY, AND THE M AND P CELLULAR PATHWAYS. THERE ARE VARIOUS INDICATIONS FOR CS EXAMINATION, SUCH AS PEOPLE APPLYING FOR JOBS, QUALITATIVE VISION LOSS, GLAUCOMA, OCULAR HYPERTENSION, CATARACT, RETINAL AND OPTIC NERVE DISEASE. CS CAN BE MEASURED BY MICHELSON’S FORMULA, WEBER, AND VARIOUS CHARTS AVAILABLE, SUCH AS PELLI-ROBSON, REGAN CHART, ARDEN GRATING, ETC. CS CAN BE OF TWO TYPES TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL. CS IS AFFECTED BY AGE, CATARACTS, AND DIABETIC RETINOPATHY. REDUCED CS ALSO INDICATES OPTIC NERVE COMPROMISE, AS SEEN IN OPTIC NEUROPATHY PATIENTS. THIS ACTIVITY DEALS WITH THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY, INDICATIONS, TYPES, FACTORS AFFECTING, METHODS OF MEASURING, AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CS.