I fear that the limiting factor in 'chang[ing] patients' vison to how it was when they were young' lies not so much in the lens, as in the macula ; if methods can be found to reverse macula degeneration, that would really be a revolution. But kudos in any event to the developers of this lens-implantation technique !...
Henri
Patients in the U.K. are having their eyes fitted with an artificial lens that allows them to see in “high definition.”
Surgeons implant the lens into the eye using the same type of procedure used for cataracts. Made from light-sensitive silicone, the lens can give patients vision better than 20/20, or what we call “perfect vision” for humans.
The lens, which can cure cataracts and far-sightedness, can be fine-tuned for focus. By shining ultraviolet light on parts of the lens, surgeons can change its shape and curvature and alter vision.
Bobby Qureshi is the first ophthalmic surgeon in the U.K. to use the lens.
“We have the potential here to change patients’ vision to how it was when they were young,” Qureshi told the U.K.’s Sky News. “The change is so accurate that we can even make the lens bifocal or varifocal, so as well as giving them good vision at distance we can give them good vision for reading.”
The lenses can accommodate for imperfections on the surface of a patient’s eye.
In a way, the lenses are like rewritable CD-ROM discs: they can be adjusted several times until perfected, and a final blast of UV light permanently fixes the lens’ shape.
