Open-View Tunable Lens Refraction for Subjective Aberrometry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing portable wavefront aberrometers lack the ability for patients to view through the device, necessitating the use of cycloplegic drops or fogging to relax accommodation, and do not provide phoroptry measurements that account for subjective patient preferences, while separate phoroptry and wavefront aberrometry systems are cumbersome and less accurate.
Innovation Solution
Integration of tunable lenses into a handheld device that allows open-view configurations, enabling patients to see through the device to a distant target, and combining wavefront sensing with tunable lenses for accurate, subjective and objective refractive measurements without the need for cycloplegic drops, using a closed-loop control system to iteratively adjust the lens for optimal vision.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a portable wavefront aberrometer is designed without open-view capability, then the device can be more compact and portable, but the patient cannot view through the device to a distant target, requiring cycloplegic drops or fogging to relax accommodation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the wavefront sensing function with an open-view phoropter design in a single integrated device. The phoropter allows the patient to view through the device to a distant target while the wavefront sensor simultaneously measures refractive status, merging two previously separate functions into one portable unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The device performs multiple functions: it provides open-view capability for accommodation relaxation, conducts wavefront aberrometry for objective refraction, and includes phoroptry measurements for subjective refraction. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate devices and cycloplegic drops.
2Reliability
If separate phoroptry and wavefront aberrometry systems are used, then each system can be optimized for its specific function, but the overall process becomes more cumbersome and less accurate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates wavefront sensing, phoroptry measurements, and open-view capability into a single device. The wavefront sensor and phoropter are combined in one housing, allowing simultaneous objective and subjective refraction measurements without requiring separate instruments or complex coordination between them.
3Adaptability or versatility
If cycloplegic drops are used to relax accommodation, then the patient's accommodation can be disabled, but the treatment includes side effects and requires waiting time between treatment and aberrometry measurements
Solution Approach 1:
The device enables the patient to self-relax accommodation by allowing them to view through the open-view phoropter to a distant target. The patient's own visual system, guided by the open-view capability, naturally relaxes accommodation without requiring external pharmacological intervention or waiting periods.
4Measurement precision
If a phoropter is used for subjective refraction, then accurate phoroptry measurements can be obtained, but the phoropter is typically large, bulky, heavy, and involves motion and vibration when lenses are switched
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical lens-switching mechanism of a phoropter with an electronically controlled tunable lens system. The tunable lens can be adjusted electronically without mechanical movement, eliminating the motion and vibration associated with traditional phoropter lens switching while maintaining measurement accuracy.
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
Enables accurate, fast, and flexible refractive examinations that can be performed by patients or minimally-trained technicians, providing both objective and subjective measurements with high precision and reducing the need for separate instruments, while maintaining mechanical robustness and cost-effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
a visual tunable lens mounted to, or configured to be mounted to, the housing to apply a variable focal power to the light from the eye and to pass the light along an optical path
Implementation Method 2
a wavefront sensor within the housing, the wavefront sensor being configured to receive the light from the eye via the optical path and to measure a wavefront of the light from the eye
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus, and corresponding method, for determining a refractive property of an eye includes a housing with a port configured to receive an eye and also light from the eye. A tunable lens can be mounted to the housing to apply a variable focal power to the light from the eye and to pass the light along an optical path toward a wavefront sensor within the housing. The wavefront sensor can receive the light via the optical path and measure a wavefront thereof. A determination module can be configured to determine a property of the eye based on the wavefront. Embodiments can be handheld, portable, and open view, while providing objective wavefront aberrometry, subjective phoroptry, and accommodation and presbyoptic evaluation, as well as lensometry functions.