Tossing Your Glasses for Good

Hey Dave, what would you say to a treatment that would allow you to read that script without your glasses? If it means I can throw away all the glasses scattered around my house and office, then count me in.

Well, researchers may have found a way to correct all common refraction errors. These errors cause the various vision problems we have because light entering the eye isn't bent properly by the cornea and lens to focus correctly onto the retina in the back of the eye. This causes myopia or nearsightedness which is when close objects are clear but distant objects are blurry; hyperopia which is the opposite; Astigmatism which happens when light is focused unevenly onto the retina; and presbyopia, when our aging lens can't change shape enough to bring close objects into focus.

The new technology developed in Israel is called Nano-Drops. It's a solution containing synthetic nanoparticles that correct refractive errors by modifying the refractive index which is the light bending of the cornea. The researchers plan to use a smartphone app to measure a person's vision to diagnose the correction of refraction needed. Then a small laser device would be connected and stamp a pattern onto the top layer of the cornea which takes just milliseconds. The nanodrops would be applied to the eyes, allowing the nanoparticles to form into the pattern stamped by the laser and thus change the trajectory of light, correcting the vision.

Researchers say if the device works, people would be able to do this at home. So far, the therapy has worked on pig corneas. So, it may not be long before these drops enter clinical trials. Imagine throwing away your glasses for good!