M&S Technologies, Holladay introduce latest in contrast sensitivity systems

April 18 - Washington, DC - Three years in development, the Holladay Automated Contrast Sensitivity System (HACSS) is expected to offer many features that are lacking or problematic with many of the current CFS systems on the market today.

Jack Holladay, MD, of Baylor College, Houston, and M&S Technologies (Booth #1226) introduced the HACSS, a CFS system, during a Sunday breakfast briefing.

In introducing the HACSS, Dr. Holladay discussed the principles of contrast sensitivity, which measures the limit of person's ability to see. Dr. Holladay also outlined what he believes are the problems with current CFS systems, including brightness, vertical linear gratings, the blanking period, response time, and false positives.

Dr. Holladay discussed some of the features of the HACSS that address these problems. The system has rotationally symmetric targets and randomly presents optotypes. It provides a technician-free, computer-driven platform that significantly reduces testing time to 10 minutes per eye with tight standard deviation due to the design and presentation of the optotypes.

Other features include:

• Standardized illumination with certification on brightness and color temperature.

• An automated user-interactive testing mechanism that eliminates technician bias.

• Testing protocol that allows screen blanking for a pre-determined period of time to allow the retina to completely refresh between displays.

• System allows for maximum response time for all patient inputs, eliminating focus.

• Automatic report printing, graphing, and output to any media for data collection.

• Conforms to ANSI guidelines for CFS testing.