Bubble Technology May Eliminate Need for Reading Glasses
May 26, 2006
A tool developed by researchers at the University of Michigan may provide a noninvasive alternative for patients with presbyopia - a lens condition that usually requires the use of reading glasses.
Individuals with presbyopia have difficulty focusing on close objects, which results in blurred vision. Medical experts tend to believe that a thickening of the fibers in the intraocular lens causes the condition. Presbyobia affects all individuals by 50 years of age.
The new tool uses bubbles, ultrafast optics, and ultrasound to measure the thickness and flexibility of the lens during laser surgery. The goal of the surgery is to restore flexibility to the lens by removing the excess fibers that lead to rigidity.
Traditional laser techniques to remedy this condition are generally considered risky because ophthalmologists cannot see what they are doing to the lens being cut.
This new technique, however, uses microscale bubbles, which have long been the subject of scientific study.
"The bubbles show you where the laser should cut, said Matthew O'Donnell, professor and chair of the University's Department of Biomedical Research. "If it's still too hard, you cut some more. If it's soft enough, you stop."
The method has thus far only been tested in pig lenses, where it experienced success. Further testing will begin this year. The team of researchers is already entertaining several commercial opportunities for their innovative technique.
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