Anisometropia

For those with large degrees of anisometropia, the wearing of standard spectacles may cause the person to experience a difference in image magnification between the two eyes (aniseikonia) which could also prevent the development of good binocular vision. This can make it very difficult to wear glasses without symptoms such as headaches and eyestrain. However, the earlier the condition is treated, the easier it is to adjust to glasses.

It is possible for spectacle lenses to be made which can adjust the image sizes presented to the eye to be approximately equal. These are called iseikonic lenses. In practice though, this is rarely ever done.

The formula for iseikonic lenses (without cylinder) is:

${\displaystyle {\textrm {Magnification}}={\frac {1}{(1-({\frac {t}{n}})P)}}\cdot {\frac {1}{(1-hF)}}}$

where:
t = center thickness (in metres);
n = refractive index;
P = front base curve (in 1/metres);
h = vertex distance (in metres);
F = back vertex power (in 1/metres), (essentially, the prescription for the lens, quoted in diopters).

If the difference between the eyes is up to 3 diopters, iseikonic lenses can compensate. At a difference of 3 diopters the lenses would however be very visibly different — one lens would need to be at least 3 mm thicker and have a base curve increased by 7.5 spheres.

Consider a pair of spectacles to correct for myopia with a prescription of −1.00 m⁻¹ in one eye and −4.00 m⁻¹ in the other. Suppose that for both eyes the other parameters are identical, namely t = 1 mm = 0.001 m, n = 1.6, P = 5 m⁻¹, and h = 15 mm = 0.015 m.
Then for the first eye ${\displaystyle {\textrm {Magnification}}={\frac {1}{(1-(0.001/1.6)\times 5)}}\cdot {\frac {1}{(1-0.015\times -1)}}=1.0031\times 0.9852=0.9883=98.83\,\%}$,
while for the second eye ${\displaystyle {\textrm {Magnification}}={\frac {1}{(1-(0.001/1.6)\times 5)}}\cdot {\frac {1}{(1-0.015\times -4)}}=1.0031\times 0.9434=0.9464=94.64\,\%}$.

Thus, in the first eye the size of the image formed on the retina will be 1.17% smaller than without spectacles (although it will be sharp, rather than blurry), whilst in the second eye the image formed on the retina will be 5.36% smaller.

As alluded to above, one method of producing more iseikonic lenses would be to adjust the thickness and base curve of the second lens. For instance, theoretically it could be set to t = 5 mm = 0.005 m and P = 14.5 m⁻¹, with all other parameters unchanged. Then for the second eye the magnification would become ${\displaystyle {\textrm {Magnification}}={\frac {1}{(1-(0.005/1.6)\times 14.5)}}\cdot {\frac {1}{(1-0.015\times -4)}}=1.0475\times 0.9434=0.9882=98.82\,\%}$,
which is much closer to that of the first eye.

In this example the first eye, with a −1.00 diopter prescription, is the stronger eye, needing only slight correction to sharpen the image formed, and hence a thin spectacle lens. The second eye, with a −4.00 diopter prescription, is the weaker eye, needing moderate correction to sharpen the image formed, and hence a moderately thick spectacle lens — if the aniseikonia is ignored. In order to avoid the aniseikonia (so that both magnifications will be practically the same, while retaining image sharpness in both eyes), the spectacle lens used for the second eye will have to be made even thicker.

The usual recommendation for those needing iseikonic correction is to wear contact lenses. The effect of vertex distance is removed and the effect of center thickness is also almost removed, meaning there is minimal and likely unnoticeable image size difference. This is a good solution for those who can tolerate contact lenses.

Refractive surgery causes only minimal size differences, similar to contact lenses. In a study performed on 53 children who had amblyopia due to anisometropia, surgical correction of the anisometropia followed by strabismus surgery if required led to improved visual acuity and even to stereopsis in many of the children[9] (see: Refractive surgery).