A novel method for assessing variations in visual acuity after the blink

A novel instrument was developed to assess the visual acuity in correlation with time after blink. The method uses an optical blink detector which triggers the display of a random target symbol on a computer monitor. The delay time between blink and symbol display varies randomly from blink to blink, the exposure duration is fixed at 100 ms. The subject has to identify the correct symbol, a score is kept of the correct responses in correlation to delay time. The recovery of visual acuity after blink was measured for subjects wearing two types of bifocal contact lenses and a control group of non-contact lens wearers. All groups required between 200 and 500 ms to achieve their best visual acuity. Subjects wearing the translating bifocal lenses recovered their vision significantly faster than the subjects wearing no lens or the simultaneous vision bifocal lens.