Presbyopic treatment system

Abstract

A method and system for treating Presbyopia and pre-Presbyopia are provided that do not compromise the wearer's intermediate or distance vision. The system is a lens and a lens series, wherein the power profiles of the lenses are tailored to provide an amount of positive ADD power in the near vision zone that is slightly less than that which is normally required for near vision accommodation, while also providing an amount of negative spherical aberration in the peripheral optical zone. The dynamic ocular factors of the wearer's eye work in conjunction with the positive ADD power provided by the central optical zone and with the effective ADD gained from the negative spherical aberration provided by the peripheral optical zone to induce a minimally discernible amount of blur that is tuned to maximize the wearer's depth of focus.

Description

[0001]This application claims the benefits under 35 USC 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 60 / 957,183 filed Aug. 22, 2007 and 61 / 125,215 filed Apr. 23, 2008, herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.TECHNICAL FILED OF THE INVENTION[0002]The invention relates to a system for treating Presbyopia. More particularly, the invention relates to a lens and a lens series that can be worn by a person to correct, or treat, symptoms of Presbyopia.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Presbyopia is a gradual loss of accommodation of the visual system of the human eye. This is due to an increase in the modulus of elasticity and growth of the crystalline lens of the eye that is located just behind the iris and the pupil. Tiny muscles in the eye called ciliary muscles pull and push the crystalline lens, thereby causing the curvature of the crystalline lens to adjust. This adjustment of the curvature of the crystalline lens results in an adjustment of the eye's focal power to ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

These changes result in inadequate adjustment of the lens of the eye (i.e., loss of accommodation) for various distances, which causes objects that are close to the eye to appear blurry.

Symptoms of Presbyopia result in the inability to focus on objects close at hand.

As the lens hardens, it is unable to focus the rays of light that come from nearby objects.

People that are symptomatic typically have difficulty reading small print, such as that on computer display monitors, in telephone directories and newspaper advertisements, and may need to hold reading materials at arm's length.

Furthermore, bifocal contact lenses may limit binocular vision.

In addition, bifocal contact lenses are relatively expensive, in part due to the time it takes the patient to be accurately fitted.

Disadvantages include headaches and fatigue experienced by the wearer during the adjustment period and decreases in visual accuity, which some people find unacceptable.

As the ADD difference is increased, a loss of depth perception, night vision and intermediate vision limits its effectiveness of monovision systems.

While multifocal lenses generally are effective at treating symptoms of Presbyopia, there are many disadvantages associated with multifocal lenses.

The high ADD power in the near vision zone can result in visual artifacts, or ghost images, that affect the wearer's intermediate vision and can result in other problems that compromise the wearer's distance vision.

Another shortcoming of current Presbyopic treatment systems is that most are ineffective at treating pre-Presbyopia, or emerging Presbyopia.

Even prior to the symptoms of Presbyopia becoming readily noticeable to a person, that person may be experiencing pre-Presbyopia symptoms, such as inability of the vision system of the eye to accommodate in conditions of darkness or low lighting.

Progressive multifocal lenses with very high near vision ADD powers are not suitable for use to treat pre-Presbyopia.

CooperVision, Inc., a company headquartered in Fairport, N.Y., recently began testing a contact lens that it claims is effective at treating pre-Presbyopia, but insufficient information is currently available about this product to verify that the lens is actually effective at treating pre-Presbyopia.

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