VICAT · Vision Improvement through CATaracts by wavefront shaping

Vision Improvement through CATaracts by wavefront shaping

Cataracts is a common ocular pathology affecting approximately 70% of people aged over 65, which accounts to approximately 700 million worldwide. If not treated in time, it can cause blindness, being so far responsible for 51% of the cases of blindness all over the world. So far, the only solution available is cataract surgery, an invasive procedure that can cause different side effects as corneal edemas or retinal detachment among others. In addition, this solution is not suitable for every patient, for example if they have other eye conditions or in the case of infants born with cataracts. For these reasons, a non-invasive alternative to surgery is highly desirable, even it can be the preferred option for many people, if they had the opportunity to wear correcting glasses, as most people do for myopia correction for instance, instead of laser surgery. In this project we studied the feasibility of a non-invasive correction of cataracts, which could benefit many people around the world, not only people that cannot undergo surgery for a medical condition, but also all those that prefer not to undergo surgery if only a non-invasive solution (in the form of wearable glasses) was possible. The goal of this project was to optimize the wavefront shaping technique capable of reverting the effect of cataract’s light scattering and combine it with the optical memory effect of cataracts, for the full optical characterization of cataracts and to improve retinal image formation by shaping and optimizing the incident wavefront, for future wearable devices based on these principles. In addition, we explored the feasibility of miniaturizing this system for wearability. During this grant we have demonstrated the feasibility of a non-invasive correction of cataracts by performing the PSF optimization in a completely non-invasive manner. We have characterized for the first time the Optical Memory Effect of cataracts, together with a full scattering characterization, which allows us to determine the maximal size of the optimized retinal image by in-vivo scattering measurements in the patients. Using amplitude modulation, we developed an approach for the in-vivo fundus imaging through cataracts. Lastly, we made important advances in the development of a miniaturized and low-cost device for in-vivo cataract correction, testing its capabilities by correcting high-order aberrations in healthy volunteers. All these advances together demonstrate the possibility of a non-invasive, economic and wearable device for the all-optical correction of cataracts, being an excellent potential alternative to cataract’s surgery.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз