Correcting Presbyopia with Autofocusing Liquid-Lens Eyeglasses

TL;DR

This paper presents the development and evaluation of autofocusing liquid-lens eyeglasses that restore accommodation in presbyopia patients without impairing the visual field, using adaptive optics and real-time correction.

Contribution

It introduces a novel adaptive eyeglass system with liquid lenses and microprocessor control for high-fidelity presbyopia correction, avoiding vision field fragmentation.

Findings

Achieved a 4.3 D accommodative range.

System operates for up to 19 hours on a single charge.

Correction calculation takes approximately 67 ms.

Abstract

Presbyopia, an age-related ocular disorder, is characterized by the loss in the accommodative abilities of the human ocular system and afflicts more than 1.8 billion people world-wide. Conventional methods of correcting presbyopia fragment the field of vision, inherently resulting in significant vision impairment. We demonstrate the development, assembly and evaluation of autofocusing eyeglasses for restoration of accommodation without vision field loss. The adaptive optics eyeglasses consist of two variable-focus piezoelectric liquid lenses, a time-of-flight range sensor and low-power, dual microprocessor control electronics housed within an ergonomic frame. Patient-specific accommodation deficiency models were utilized to demonstrate a high-fidelity accommodative correction. Each accommodation correction calculation was performed in ~67 ms requiring 4.86 mJ of energy. The optical resolution of the system was 10.5 cycles/degree, featuring a restorative accommodative range of 4.3 D. This system can run for up to 19 hours between charge cycles and weighs ~132 g, allowing comfortable restoration of accommodative function