Representing corneal shape

The power and radius expressions that are commonly used for corneal topography measurements are frequently misinterpreted. There is no consensus for the most appropriate expression of corneal topography, perhaps due to bias in the measurement process and misunderstanding of what is being measured. Agreement is needed as to the most appropriate methods for expressing corneal shape independent of the available measurement methods. This is a worthwhile enterprise since corneal shape measurements are useful in such applications as diagnosing corneal abnormalities, refractive corneal surgery and contact lens design.