Ophthalmology Archives

Stroke, injury, trigeminal neuralgia, and a number of other diseases can cause problems with the blink reflex. This frustrating and debilitating condition is currently addressed by embedding a weight into the eyelid to use gravity to bring it down, or by performing a muscle transplant, which is rarely done. Because these approaches have substantial side effects, researchers from University of California Davis Medical Center and SRI International have been working on an artificial eyelid muscle mechanism. In the latest issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery the team is describing the development of a electroactive polymer artificial muscle (EPAM) based system that has yet to be tried on humans, but is showing promise in the lab.
From UC Davis Health System:

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Globes, Israel’s business newspaper, is reporting that Notal Vision out of Tel Aviv has received FDA approval for the firm’s ForeseeHome age-related macular degeneration (AMD) analysis device. Designed to be used by patients at home, the device can help monitor AMD for signs of an oncoming choroidal neovascularization (CNV). It’s not clear what is the functional mechanism of the device, but ForeseeHome will require a prescription and an ophthalmologist to review the results.
Published features from the product page:

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Researchers have been trying to coat contact lenses with light sensitive dyes to have them turn dark during bright lighting conditions. Glasses with this property have existed for decades, but the same coating methods are not applicable to contacts.
Technology Review reports on work by the Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in Singapore to use the entire volume of the lens to contain the dye:

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When scientists want to test the performance of artificial corneas, retinal implants, and other visual prostheses, they typically require patients to be outfitted with one of these devices. Caltech scientists have now developed a robot that can “wear” visual prostheses and simulate how those might perform in the real world.

CYCLOPS’s camera is gimballed, which means it can emulate left-to-right and up-and-down head movements. The input from the camera runs through the onboard computing platform, which does real-time image processing. For now, however, the platform itself is moved around remotely, via a joystick. “The platform can be operated from anywhere in the world, through its wireless Internet connection,” says Tarbell [Mark Tarbell, Caltech visiting scientist --ed.].

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We have always had a fascination with robotic eyes, whether in RoboCop or Terminator, and we have previously covered some of the exciting developments in retinal implants. MIT is reporting that its researchers, led by Dr. John L. Wyatt, are working on a retinal implant that bypasses damaged retinal cells in order to give direct visual input to the brain.
The implant works in conjunction with a specially designed set of glasses that have an embedded camera that wirelessly transmits power and image signals to the microchip in the retina which then transmits the signals to the brain. The microchip has receiving coils that surround the eyeball, much like a natural retina. The microchip itself is sealed in a titanium case to avoid corrosion. The chip will receive visual signals from the glasses which activate the electrodes, which in turn fire nerve cells to carry visual input to the brain. The microchip will not restore vision to a perfect standing, but is intended to help a blind patients navigate.

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Optometry services are expensive and hard to find in the developing world, which means a good part of the world’s population simply has no access to prescription eye glasses. Josh Silver, an atomic physicist, has developed liquid filled glasses, worth only $19, that the patient himself can set. Here’s a talk he gave at TED discussing and demonstrating the technology:

Link @ TED: Josh Silver demos adjustable liquid-filled eyeglasses

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Babak A. Parviz, an associate professor at the University of Washington whose research was seen on our pages before, wrote an article for IEEE Spectrum discussing the work of his team to develop electronic contact lenses to provide continuous monitoring of glucose, augmented vision, and potential other implications of the technology. Parviz also gives a rundown of the challenges involved in creating functional in-lens displays that users can focus on at such a short distance.
From the article:

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Dr. Stephen Kurtin, an inventor and a physicist with a degree from Caltech, has been working on adjustable eye glasses for the last two decades, trying to overcome the disadvantages of bifocals and progressive lenses. His work has finally led to a commercial product, called TruFocals, which features a slider above the nose bridge that changes the focal point of the lenses in real time. The glasses use a conventional lens co-axially paired with a distensible membrane, and a clear liquid resides between the two. The shape of the liquid can be adjusted precisely via the slider activated membrane, providing a selectable focal range that you can change depending on what you’re looking at.
Here’s Stephen Kurtin presenting the TruFocals:

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