Anyone with vision problems knows the irritation of grappling around for your glasses in the morning in foggy, short sighted befuddlement.
For many of us, vision is how we perceive and discover the world around us; and to feel this marvellous sense deteriorating can be a terrifying experience.
Indeed, serious eye problems such as cataracts can have detrimental effects on a person’s health and well-being.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) around 253 million individuals suffer from vision impairment.
An estimated 36 million are blind, with 217 million suffering moderate to severe vision impairment.
However, it really shouldn’t have to be this way.
One day, in the not too distant future, these gloomy numbers could well be drastically reduced; all thanks to pioneering health technology from Ocumetics Technology Corporation.
Ocumetics have developed the nifty and extremely impressive Ocumetics Bionic Lens, which replaces the natural lens with one which is far more advanced.
These lenses – which have taken almost a decade and $3 million to develop – are capable of correcting vision at all distances depending on the individual; from distance to intermediate, near to very near.
Amazingly, patients may be able to see three times better than 20/20 vision; a feat which is almost impossible to envision even for those who have ‘perfect vision.’
Ocumetics patients will be getting a far more tailored experience than many are used to receiving with regular old bathroom cupboard contacts.
The beyond clever design means the front portion of the lens works as a ‘docking station’ which can then be loaded with micro-optics and customised for each person’s unique eye.
This means refinements and ‘fine tuning’ may be made at any point post surgery without putting the person’s ocular health at risk.
Now many apologies for the following information if – much like myself – you can’t deal with reading or talking about eyes.
Maybe just mentally replace the word eye with apple. Ah actually no that’s weirdly kind of worse, maybe just soldier on through…
According to Ocumetics, the intraocular lens is inserted into the eye with a saline-filled syringe, before unravelling itself in under ten seconds:
It is designed to be foldable and insertable through a 2.7 mm incision.
Wavefront correction for discrete higher order aberrations that are normally found within the eye can be sculpted into the surface of the Bionic LensTM for further enhanced visual function.
Despite its fiddly sounding nature, the operation is reported to be exactly the same as cataract surgery and can be completed within the space of just eight minutes.
It’s anticipated human studies will begin during July 2017, with tests taking place at research facilities within Canada, the US and Europe.
Lenses could be made available to the public as soon as March 2018, having an impact on the health and lives of many people.
Check out Dr Garth Webb – the optometrist behind the lenses – discuss the potential for his vision below:
So get ready to snap your glasses in half like the nerdy girl from a nineties high school movie; we could all very soon be seeing the world much more clearly.
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.