Lens implant may replace reading glasses
Devesh Mistry, a researcher form the University of Leeds, developed a new lens implant that can render reading glasses obsolete. The lens is made of liquid crystal, the same material used in smart phones and TVs.
“As we get older, the lens in our eye stiffens, when the muscles in the eye contract they can no longer shape the lens to bring close objects into focus.” said Mistry.
“Using liquid crystals, which we probably know better as the material used in the screens of TVs and smartphones, lenses would adjust and focus automatically, depending on the eye muscles’ movement.
Using these liquid crystal-based materials, Mistry’s research is developing synthetic replacements for the diseased lens in the eye — a new generation of lenses and intra-ocular lens implants to rejuvenate sight.
Mistry is currently researching and developing the lens in the lab and aims to have a prototype ready by the end of his doctorate in 2018.
Within a decade, the research could see the new lens being implanted into eyes in a quick and straightforward surgical procedure under local anaesthetic.
Eye surgeons would make an incision in the cornea and use ultrasound to break down the old lens. The liquid crystal lens would then be inserted, restoring clear vision.
The lens could also have application in tackling cataracts — the clouding of natural lenses — which affect many people in later life and which can seriously affect vision. A common treatment is to remove and replace the natural lens.
Devesh is working in collaboration with the Eurolens Research at the University of Manchester and with UltraVision CLPL, a specialist contact lenses manufacturer headed up by two University of Leeds alumni.
His research builds upon previous work by the same collaborators, who developed a prototype contact lens with an electrically-controllable focus using liquid crystals.
Category: Features, Technology & Devices
