A quick way to assess best corrected visual acuity by having the patient look through an opaque screen with pinholes.

When you are looking through a pinhole, aberrations and moderate amounts of refractive error are eliminated because so much of the light entering the eye is eliminated.

For laser eye surgery patients with corneal irregularities / aberrations, and symptoms such as ghosting or glare, a pinhole test may be a very handy way to confirm that the problem is in the cornea.

pinhole glasses

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Updated February 2005.