Will new treatment make eyeglasses obsolete?

 

Could this mean "Goodbye Glasses" in curing myopia?

 

Biomedical scientists led by David Troilo at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry are working on a potential cure for myopia by using specialty contact lenses.

 

Such special lenses can coax the eye to grow in a way that can correct myopia or nearsighted vision while reducing myopia progression, reported science site Phys.org.

 

"Troilo has shown that specially designed contact lenses that alter how light is focused in the peripheral retina can induce changes in growth that help reshape the eye in the desired way. The experimental lenses use different focal powers within a single lens: either alternating focal powers across the lens, or confined to the outer edge," Phys.org said.

 

Troilo will describe his findings at the Optical Society's (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2012, on Oct. 14 in Rochester, New York.

 

He also said several contact lens designs may soon be available to help eye doctors manage the progression of myopia in children.

 

Myopia develops when the eye is too long, making it difficult to focus light from distant objects on the retina.

 

He said that while glasses or ordinary contact lenses can correct the defocus on the main visual axis, they can create slight farsightedness in the peripheral retina.

 

Such peripheral farsightedness may worsen myopia because, as children grow, the eye grows to move the retina to where the light is focused, thus naturally lengthening the eye further.

 

Nearsightedness or myopia affects up to 90 percent of children in some areas in Asia, and more than 40 percent of people in the United States, Phys.org said.

 

It usually begins in childhood and often progresses with age, it added.

 

While standard prescription lenses can correct the defocus, they do not cure nearsightedness. Neither do they slow progression rates as children grow.

 

New lenses

 

Phys.org said the new lenses changed eye growth and refractive state, or focus, in a predictable way.

 

The lenses also successfully reduced the elongation of the eye that causes myopia progression.

 

Goodbye to glasses

 

A separate report on TechCrunch said the lenses may have other benefits: unlike glasses, they are less likely to get a child bullied, they’re not too expensive, and they can be used in sports. — TJD, GMA News