Basic Sciences in Ophthalmology Josef Flammer • Maneli Mozaffarieh Hans Bebie Basic Sciences in Ophthalmology Physics and Chemistry Josef Flammer, M.D Department of Ophthalmology University of Basel Basel Switzerland Hans Bebie, Ph.D Institute for Theoretical Physics University of Bern Bern Switzerland Maneli Mozaffarieh, M.D Department of Ophthalmology University of Basel Basel Switzerland ISBN 978-3-642-32260-0 ISBN 978-3-642-32261-7 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-32261-7 Springer Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London (eBook) Library of Congress Control Number: 2012951641 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 This work is subject to copyright All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface Ophthalmology training is more than just memorizing pieces of information Particularly important is a comprehensive understanding of the scientific background This book on “Physics and Chemistry of the Eye” describes the coherence of ophthalmology with physics and chemistry It is the ambition to provide a better understanding of clinical observations and the way how we treat patients Such a physical and chemical background is only conditionally a prerequisite for practising ophthalmology However, it helps clinicians interpreting phenomena, gives researcher more independency, and increases enthusiasm of curious scientists This book is simply an introduction and is not meant to be complete by any means The mentioned clinical pictures serve merely as examples For more comprehensive descriptions, please refer to corresponding textbooks This first edition may contain weaknesses and mistakes We encourage readers to give us feedback in order to improve future editions For us, writing this book was not just work but also satisfaction We admire the beauty of the eye and are fascinated the way it functions and are particularly impressed about the interrelations between basic science and medicine While writing the book, we realized in what sophisticated way fundamental laws of nature enabled the emergence of life We hope that some sparks of our enthusiasm may jump to the reader and that this book contributes to the appreciation of ophthalmology both for the benefit of patients and physicians For further information and contact: www.glaucomaresearch.ch Josef Flammer, M.D Maneli Mozaffarieh, M.D Hans Bebie, Ph.D v Authors Josef Flammer, M.D., Professor and Head, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Basel, Switzerland Special interests: glaucoma, perimetry, pharmacology, microcirculation and molecular biology Maneli Mozaffarieh, M.D., Glaucoma Fellow, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Basel, Switzerland Special interests: glaucoma Hans Bebie, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus for Theoretical Physics, University of Bern, Switzerland Special interests: optics, science of vision vii Acknowledgments Project manager: Daniela Hauenstein Illustrations: Natasa Cmiljanovic Rebekka Heeb Peter Räber Proofreading and further support: Vladimir Cmiljanovic Arthur T Funkhouser Katarzyna Konieczka Nina Müller Albert Neutzner Annick Toggenburger Gertrud Thommen Additional contributions: Martina Anderson, Michael Baertschi, Ralf Beuschel, Tatjana Binggeli, Anna Cybulska-Heinrich, Barbara Dubler, Alex Eberle, Arne Fischmann, David Goldblum, Matthias Grieshaber, Farhad Hafezi, Jörg Hagmann, Pascal Hasler, Tatjana Josifova, Simone Koch, Jürg Messerli, Peter Meyer, Ursula Müller, Anna Polunina, Ulrike Schneider, Eberhard Spoerl, Margarita Todorova, Birgit Vorgrimler Other colleagues who kindly provided us with illustrations are acknowledged in the figure legends (Courtesy of) ix ... contained herein Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface Ophthalmology training is more than just memorizing pieces of information... Bebie Basic Sciences in Ophthalmology Physics and Chemistry Josef Flammer, M.D Department of Ophthalmology University of Basel Basel Switzerland Hans Bebie, Ph.D Institute for Theoretical Physics. .. with thermal light In Fig 1.32b, a point-sized incandescent light source illuminates the two openings In a symmetric arrangement, the two fields in the openings oscillate in step (in phase) with