Weird but serious human eye question

[Rock-n-Rolga]

Ok, this has been bugging me for a while now, but I only just thought to ask about it here. I was going to mention it in the "Very Vaguely Creepy" thread in IMHO, but after oh, a nanosecond's consideration, I realized that this sight was far beyond vague or creepy. In fact, it downright flipped me out!

The scenario: about two years ago, I was taking a self-paced class at a local college. About twice a week we had to take written tests which were kept in individual files behind the library's main counter. The first couple of times I asked the librarian for a test, I thought something about his eyes seemed a bit odd, but couldn't quite work out what it could be. The third time we spoke, the overhead lighting was much better so I was able to get a good look and that's when I realized - the guy's pupils were square!

SQUARE!!!

Ok, they were actually a little on the rectangular side, slightly taller than they were wide, but still...there was no roundness to them at all. The edges were perfectly straight.

So how could this happen? Through surgery, perhaps? I thought that nothing on the human body has naturally perfect straight lines and right angles, so what gives? Oh and please don't think I'm trying to brand the guy as a freak because of his eye anomaly. He was very nice and professional, and to be honest, the eye thing made him look even more handsome than he already was. And AFIK, he's still working at the same place. And as for why didn't I just ask him personally for the story...Well, would you?

Hope someone can help out here, it's been bugging me!
Cheers,
R-n-R

[stuyguy]

So Bender from Futurama works at your library?

[Padeye]

BAHAHAHAHA!!

I laughed so hard I squirted robot oil all over my console.

Why don't you just ask the guy? My guess would be you saw a refletion and not his pupil or he's wearing special "freak the skinbags out" contacts.

I need alcohol.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Corneal implants.

Synthetic ones, I believe. Probably plastic. The British were experimenting with plastic corneas as early as the late 1930's.

[Rock-n-Rolga]

I think Bosda's reply might just be tha winnah! No, it was not a reflection; I saw him again many times after that in different angles and lighting. And nope, he wasn't made of metal, either.

So aside from the freakout factor, why would artificial corneas be square? Any idea, Bosda? Anyone?

Cheers,
R-n-R

[CalMeacham]

Not really corneal implants. A lot of the older IntraOcular Lenses (IOLs) were square, and he were held in place by clipping them onto the iris, so they really did make your pupils square.

They've got lots of different ways of doing it now. Generally IOLs no longer clip onto the iris, I believe, and they're mostly round.

This doesn't significantly affect his vision. The iris defines the aperture (and with a hard hunk of plastic n there it Can't close down in bright light. I'll bet he carries sunglasses.), but the cornea and lens determine th focal length. he main effect would be that the diffraction spot is square instead of round, and he might see square haloes at night around bright lights.

[Rock-n-Rolga]

CalMeacham, Bosda, thanks for the quick and thorough replies. Did a search on "Intraocular Lenses" and saw that they're used in cataract surgery. That explanation definitely makes sense as the man in question appeared to be in his mid-60's. I just had no idea these things existed. Fascinating!

Cheers,
R-n-R (who can sleep peacefully again now - juuuust kidding!)

[joemill]

I know of a lady that has a TORN iris. She looked strange to me, until I realized one day that her pupil was tear (or water-drop) shaped. The the tapered end of her pupil goes all the way to the white of her eye! I never did ask her about it though, so I don't know if it was an accident, or if she was born that way.....

[edwino]

Cataract ops are now done "in the bag" -- the lens is covered by a thin membrane (its basement membrane ironically), with the fibers inside (the bag). You make a small incision in the basement membrane and clear out the whitened fibers with an ultrasound probe. You can then implant the IOL right into the empty bag.

Also, he could have had an iridectomy for whatever reason (again, cataracts), or perhaps you could have misinterpreted a coloboma iris, which is more keyhole-shaped.

Also, rarely, people can have double pupils.

I'm sure there's more bizarre pupil stories, but I left medical school right before opthalmology (I'll do it in 4 years when I finish grad school), and my optometry-school wife is out of the country now.

[rjk]

Goats have more-or-less rectangular pupils. Too bad everybody else posted the right answer before I saw this thread.