Entopic starburst in vision: revisiting the role of diffractive lens suture patterns

Ávila, Francisco J. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; D’Antin, Justin C. ; Barraquer, Rafael I. ; Navarro, Rafael

Resumen: Starbursts are entoptic visual phenomena perceived as radial spikes around point light sources, frequently reported under scotopic conditions or following ocular surgeries such as LASIK or intraocular lens implantation. While starbursts have traditionally been attributed to high-order optical aberrations, in particular spherical aberration, we hypothesize that crystalline lens suture patterns may play a dominant role in the formation of starbursts through light diffraction. This study investigates the contribution of lens suture diffraction to starburst formation and compares it to the influence of high-order spherical aberrations. Using ex vivo porcine crystalline lenses mounted in a mechanical expansion unit, we performed through-focus imaging and aberrometric analysis with a custom optical system. Suture patterns were segmented and used to simulate diffraction-based point-spread functions (PSFs) by convolving them with a Gaussian point source. Simulated PSFs were compared to those generated using fourth- and sixth-order spherical aberration parameters. A cross-correlation analysis and angular detection of diffraction spikes were performed to assess the similarity between experimental and simulated PSFs. Results demonstrate that diffraction by crystalline lens sutures generates starburst-like PSFs, independent of high-order aberrations. Through-focus simulations revealed asymmetric Strehl ratio distributions when suture diffraction was included, suggesting that sutures significantly degrade optical quality over a broader dioptric range. Cross-correlation coefficients (
) between experimental and simulated PSFs exceeded 0.7 in all cases, and diffraction spike orientations showed high angular consistency, confirming the predictive value of the suture diffraction model. Our findings support the hypothesis that lens sutures are the primary source of starburst formation via diffraction, with spherical aberration acting as a secondary factor.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1364/JOSAA.583420

Año: 2026

Publicado en: Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision 43, 2 (2026), 249-258
ISSN: 1084-7529

Tipo y forma: Article (PostPrint)

Área (Departamento): Área Óptica (Dpto. Física Aplicada)