Performance of a new binocular wavefront aberrometer based on a self-imaging diffractive sensor.

PURPOSE: To compare the performance of the Ophthonix Z-View diffractive aberrometer with two different Hartmann-Shack aberrometers. METHODS: The Ophthonix Z-View was compared with the Alcon LADARWave and VISX WaveScan using 4 model eyes and 68 human eyes. Comparisons using three fixed, single-surface model eyes each with a different wavefront pattern were used to determine higher order accuracy. Lower order accuracy, linearity, and higher order repeatability were tested with a fourth model eye with a movable retinal surface. Manifest refraction spherical equivalent and the calculated spherical equivalent refraction of the aberrometers were compared in 68 human eyes. RESULTS: The Z-View was more accurate with lower noise compared to the WaveScan and LADARWave systems for higher order measurements of the fixed model eyes. Total root-mean-square difference from surface topography derived average values for all model eye configurations were 0.48, 0.95, and 0.74 microm for the Z-View, WaveScan, and LADARWave aberrometers, respectively. Average inter-measurement standard deviations for the fixed model eyes were 0.024, 0.025, and 0.034 microm for the Z-View, WaveScan, and LADARWave aberrometers, respectively. Results were similar among the systems for measuring the movable retina surface model eye and comparing manifest refraction spherical equivalent of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Data gathered using one variable and several fixed-parameter model eyes showed good correlation to predicted values for all of the aberrrometers with one exception. A significant difference was found in the measurement of one individual fixed model eye with one of the three aberrometers. The wavefront refraction provided by the Z-View correlated well with the results of manifest refraction.

High-sensitivity detection of DNA hybridization on microarrays using resonance light scattering.

The application of resonance light scattering (RLS) particles for high-sensitivity detection of DNA hybridization on cDNA microarrays is demonstrated. Arrays composed of approximately 2000 human genes ("targets") were hybridized with colabeled (Cy3 and biotin) human lung cDNA probes at concentrations ranging from 8.3 ng/microL to 16.7 pg/microL. After hybridization, the arrays were imaged using a fluorescence scanner. The arrays were then treated with 80-nm-diameter gold RLS Particles coated with anti-biotin antibodies and imaged in a white light, CCD-based imaging system. At low probe concentrations, significantly more genes were detected by RLS compared to labeling by Cy3. For example, for hybridizations with a probe concentration of 83.3 pg/microL, approximately 1150 positive genes were detected using RLS compared to approximately 110 positive genes detected with Cy3. In a differential gene expression experiment using human lung and leukemia RNA samples, similar differential expression profiles were obtained for labeling by RLS and fluorescence technologies. The use of RLS Particles is particularly attractive for detection and identification of low-abundance mRNAs and for those applications in which the amount of sample is limited.