The photoreceptors are organized in a highly ordered array in the human retina. At the fovea the densely packed cones resemble rods with diameters (
di) between 2–3
µm separated by an intercone distance of 2–3
µm, whereas at the parafoveal region the cones are more conical with diameters ranging between 5–8
µm and are less densely packed [
1]. Toraldo di Francia (1949) drew attention to the similarity between waveguides and retinal photoreceptors, and the possibility to explain the Stiles-Crawford effect (SCE) as being due to the directionality selective mechanism of the waveguides [
2], but only in the 1960's were the first observations of waveguide mode patterns in photoreceptors reported by Enoch [
3,
4], and thus providing evidence that the retina is a microstructure whose cones work as waveguides of light from the inner to the outer cone segments.
In general two approaches dominate when explaining the directionality mechanism and its wavelength dependence throughout the visible spectrum. One approach is based on the back-scattering effects created by the waveguide properties of the cones and the topography of the cone mosaic [
5]. The approach is in agreement with the wavelength dependence of the Optical Stiles-Crawford (OSCE) [
6]. A related approach has been used to describe the directionality of the SCE as being due to backscattering of light from the choroid [
7].
Another approach based on the Enoch's observation of mode patterns in retinal receptors [
4] has been formulated by Snyder and Pask [
8]. The model assumes that the SCE is created by the light-coupling mechanism to discrete waveguide modes of the cones. The coupling and the consequences in the apodization effect at the pupil are highly sensitive to the waveguide parameter
V, defined as
V = (
πdi/
λ)
NA, where
λ is the wavelength of the light propagated, and
di and NA is the size and the numerical aperture of a given individual photoreceptor, respectively. Recently, B. Vohnsen et al. [
9] have upgraded the Snyder and Pask model to include the diffraction properties of the light to/from the pupil obtaining analytical expressions for the directionality parameters in agreement with the OSCE and SCE results [
6,
10].
However, due to the difficulties of the biological preparation as well as real-eye measurements, the theoretical models are considered abstractions and the formulations quite simplistic for the complex mechanism of the eye and vision [
11,
12]. One step towards filling the gap between the theoretical models and a retinal tissue is to simulate the biological structure with experimental devices such that a hybrid situation between theory and experiment is created enabling precise control of its characteristics. To our knowledge, such an approach has only been previously attempted using a large-scale microwave guiding cylindrical structure [
13]. Related theoretical approaches have previously been developed to examine scattering by fiber-optic bundles [
14], but here the analysis will be based on uncoupled photoreceptor waveguides that suffice to reproduce the overall appearance of the experimentally reported SCE directionality [
15].
The photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is a silica waveguide (optimized for visible and near-infrared light) with a microstructure of air holes extended along the fiber to localize guiding to its core [
16]. In a variation usually named as the liquid-filled photonic crystal fiber (LF-PCF) high-refractive liquids are used to fill the air holes, hence the light is guided by the liquid-filled holes instead [
17]. Rosberg, et al. [
18] have used Castor oil which has a high negative thermo-optical coefficient, under these conditions the light is guided by the liquid in the holes and the waveguide properties are accurately managed by temperature control. Therefore, the LF-PCF works as a micrometric fiber bundle [], whose waveguide characteristics (single- and multimode) are well-controlled by changing the index of refraction of the infiltrated liquid.
In this work we have used an optical setup with a lens imitating the refractive human eye and the LF-PCF imitating the retina. Simulated Stiles-Crawford (SSC) measurements have been performed measuring the transmitted light power through the LF-PCF to study coupling and directionality for different waveguide conditions, i.e. V
![[proportional, variant]](/corehtml/pmc/pmcents/x221D.gif)
NA (
λ=constant) and V
![[proportional, variant]](/corehtml/pmc/pmcents/x221D.gif)
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λ (NA=constant). Both the SCE and OSCE situations are experimentally simulated considering the model of diffraction to/from the pupil and considering the subjective SCE visibility to be proportional to the coupled light power [
9].