Purpose: To determine the number of measurements required to produce a representative mean result for corneal apical radius and asphericity and to examine the repeatability of this mean result.
Methods: The Bausch & Lomb Orbscan II corneal topographer was used to take 10 measurements of right eyes of 20 normal individuals. These were used to determine the number of measurements required to obtain a representative result. The apical radius and p-value were derived from the instrument software for the entire surface and also calculated from the raw data for a single meridian.
Results: Both apical radius and asphericity stabilized as the number of responses contributing to the mean increased. Repeat measurement for the entire surface of a three-measurement mean result was +/-0.090 mm for apical radius and +/- 0.151 for the p-value. The results for a single meridian, on repeat measurement, will lie within +/- 0.069 mm and +/- 0.051, respectively.
Conclusions: Little improvement in stability or repeatability was observed after a three-measurement mean. The error and repeatability of the measurement appear to be better in this investigation when only a single meridian is analyzed. Thus, instrument software might be improved by providing analysis of apical radius and asphericity for a single, selectable meridian.