Assessing spatial and temporal properties of perimetric stimuli for resistance to clinical variations in retinal illumination

PURPOSE. To develop perimetric stimuli for which sensitivities are more resistant to reduced retinal illumination than current clinical perimeters. METHODS. Fifty-four people free of eye disease were dilated and tested monocularly. For each test, retinal illumination was attenuated with neutral density (ND) filters, and a standard adaptation model was fit to derive mean and SEM for the adaptation parameter (ND_half). For different stimuli, t-tests on ND_half were used to assess significance of differences in consistency with Weber's law. Three experiments used custom Gaussian-windowed contrast sensitivity perimetry (CSP). Experiment 1 used CSP-1, with a Gaussian temporal pulse, a spatial frequency of 0.375 cyc/deg (cpd), and SD of 1.5°. Experiment 1 also used the Humphrey Matrix perimeter, with the N-30 test using 0.25 cpd and 25 Hz flicker. Experiment 2 used a rectangular temporal pulse, SDs of 0.25° and 0.5°, and spatial frequencies of 0.0 and 1.0 cpd. Experiment 3 used CSP-2, with 5-Hz flicker, SDs from 0.5° to 1.8°, and spatial frequencies from 0.14 to 0.50 cpd. RESULTS. In Experiment 1, CSP-1 was more consistent with Weber's law (ND_half 6 SEM = 1.86 6 0.08 log unit) than N-30 (ND_half = 1.03 6 0.03 log unit; t > 9, P < 0.0001). All stimuli used in Experiments 2 and 3 had comparable consistency with Weber's law (ND_half = 1.49-1.69 log unit; t < 2). CONCLUSIONS. Perimetric sensitivities were consistent with Weber's law when higher temporal frequencies were avoided.