Adaptive Lens Stack for Myopia Control Without Peripheral Blur
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional prescription lenses for myopia correction cause further eye growth due to fixed negative optical power, leading to myopia development, especially in children, and existing adaptive lenses suffer from optical artifacts and reduced vision quality.
Innovation Solution
An adaptive optical apparatus with a passive lens having a central portion with a higher negative optical power than the peripheral portion, combined with an active lens that adjusts its optical power based on gaze direction to minimize eye strain and optical artifacts, using an eye tracker and processor to control the active lens.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixed negative optical power is provided continuously in prescription lenses for myopia correction, then distance vision is corrected, but the eye lens must generate many dioptres to overcome the negative power for close focus, expediting myopia development
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an adaptive lens that dynamically changes its optical power based on the user's gaze direction. When the gaze is detected to be off-center (peripheral viewing), the adaptive lens modifies its optical characteristics to reduce or eliminate the negative optical power, thereby reducing accommodation demand during close work and slowing myopia progression while maintaining distance vision correction when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The adaptive lens changes its optical parameters (optical power) in response to detected gaze direction. The lens transitions between different optical states - maintaining negative power for distance correction when gaze is central, and reducing or eliminating negative power when peripheral gaze indicates close work, thus adapting the optical parameters to the current viewing condition.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a smaller negative optical power is provided at the peripheral portion of the lens compared to the central portion (myopia control value), then myopia control is improved, but vision becomes blurred when the user's gaze direction is off centre
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses an eye tracker to detect the user's gaze direction in real-time and provides feedback to the adaptive lens control system. Based on this feedback, the adaptive lens adjusts its optical power dynamically - when peripheral gaze is detected (indicating potential myopia control opportunity), the lens modifies its power to provide myopia control without causing blur, thereby resolving the contradiction between myopia control effectiveness and vision quality.
3Reliability
If adaptive lenses are implemented as negative Fresnel lenses to produce negative optical powers, then myopia correction is achieved, but optical artifacts are caused
Solution Approach 1:
The adaptive lens changes its optical parameters dynamically based on viewing conditions. Instead of using a fixed negative Fresnel lens structure that always produces artifacts, the adaptive lens modifies its optical power and characteristics in real-time, reducing or eliminating negative power when appropriate, thereby maintaining myopia correction effectiveness while minimizing optical artifacts through parameter adaptation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The apparatus effectively controls myopia progression by reducing eye strain and maintaining high vision quality without blurring, suitable for both children and adults, by dynamically adjusting optical power based on gaze direction.
Implementation Method 1
employing an adaptive lens to change its optical power dynamically, based on a detected gaze direction of the user
Implementation Method 2
a passive lens, wherein a magnitude of a negative optical power at a central portion of the passive lens is larger than a magnitude of a negative optical power at a peripheral portion of the passive lens
Data Source
AI summary
An optical apparatus includes a lens stack with an active lens and a passive lens. A magnitude of a negative optical power at a central portion of the passive lens is larger than a magnitude of a negative optical power at a peripheral portion of the passive lens. When it is detected that a focussing distance of a user is less than a first predefined threshold distance, a magnitude of a positive optical power to be produced in the active lens is selected, based on whether the user's gaze passes through the central portion or the peripheral portion of the passive lens. A magnitude of the positive optical power is smaller than the magnitude of the negative optical power at the central portion of the passive lens. A drive signal is generated to control the active lens to produce the positive optical power in the active lens.