Adjustable lenses correct refractive vision errors

Using SolidWorks software, Adlens created a layered lens that enables wearers to literally dial up custom prescription eyeglasses with no help from an optician, optometrist or ophthalmologist.

Under guidance of a trained person such as a community health worker, Adlens’ adaptive eyeglasses adjust with the turn of a knob to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and presbyopia (loss of focus).

’There are hundreds of millions of people around the world who need only a simple pair of eyeglasses to remain self-sufficient,’ said Sjoerd Hannema, chief executive of Adlens. ’We are working through the Vision for a Nation programme to raise awareness of the impact impaired vision can have on a person’s education and quality of life. Our product is a way to correct many of those vision problems with the infrastructure available in the developing world.’

Adlens used the SolidWorks software to design a four-layer polycarbonate eyeglass lens. Two rigid lenses enclose a cavity housing, a flexible third lens that contains a volume of oil. Knobs on the eyeglass frames pump the transparent oil in or out of the lens, where the middle layer flexes to provide the optical power the wearer needs. Then the wearer simply removes the levers and the adjustment knobs to lock in the prescription.