eye impression

impression, eye

A negative form or replica of the anterior part of the eye. A substance with rapid gelling properties is held in contact with the eye until gelled. This impression (or mould) is then used in the preparation of a positive model called a cast (or casting) of the anterior part of the eye: it is made by filling the impression with a material containing a plaster of Paris base which hardens to artificial stone. Using this cast a shell of a scleral contact lens is produced with optimum shape of the back surface. Syn. impression; impression moulding; mould; ocular impression.

Millodot: Dictionary of Optometry and Visual Science, 7th edition. © 2009 Butterworth-Heinemann