AFRO-NETS> Oxford professor invents self-focusing glasses

[Dieter Neuvians MD <neuvians@mweb.co.za>]

Oxford professor invents self-focusing glasses
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By Meg Kociemba and Jonathan Thompson
15 December 2002

Source: Independent U.K.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health/story.jsp?story=361710

An Oxford physics professor is selling 10 million pairs of revolu-
tionary new spectacles to Africa which enable the users to wear them 
for a lifetime without ever going to an optician.

The glasses could help the billion people around the world who are 
deprived of spectacles but suffer from long or near sight. Joshua 
Silver's simple invention could in theory help to eradicate adult il-
literacy in developing countries.

Professor Silver's "adaptive glasses" look like ordinary ones except 
for the two knobs on either side of the frame that can adjust the 
curvature of the lens. It means that in countries where opticians are 
scarce, wearers can simply alter the focus as their eyesight deterio-
rates over time.

Uncorrected poor vision is considered among the most serious problems 
in the developing world, holding back economies by forcing educated 
classes to retire early with failing eyesight. The World Health Or-
ganisation (WHO) estimates one billion people worldwide need but do 
not have access to spectacles.

The lenses are filled with silicon oil, controlled via a small pump 
on the frame. This alters the curvature of the lens, allowing the 
wearer to see clearly with the simple turn of a knob. Through a deal 
with the WHO and the World Bank, Prof Silver plans to sell up to 
400,000 adaptive glasses in Ghana with another deal for 9.3 million 
pairs in South Africa also in the pipeline. The glasses are sold at 
about GBP 6 through his company Adaptive Eyecare, based in Oxford, 
http://www.adaptive-eyecare.com/technology.htm but cost less than 
that to make. With just 50 opticians in Ghana out of a population of 
almost 20 million, glasses that last a lifetime will prove a boon.

"It would take on average about 200 years to be seen by an optome-
trist in Ghana," explained Prof Silver. "But adaptive glasses obviate 
the need for a trip at all."

The professor began work on his invention 17 years ago  although the 
technique of using liquid in lenses dates back to the 18th century. 
"When I first started working with variable power lenses, it was sim-
ply to see if they could be made," he said. "Then I realised that if 
I could build something with the potential to help millions of peo-
ple, I ought to just go out and give it a go."

The lack of optometry has undermined Ghana's GBP 19m World Bank-
funded adult literacy programme. A recent study found that 74 per 
cent of those on the programme needed glasses. Dr Kweku Ghartey, one 
of Ghana's leading eye surgeons, is backing the invention. "People 
can't be taught unless they can see what is put before them," he 
said.

Trials which have been under way in Ghana since 1996 have already 
proved successful. "There was one girl who didn't know trees have 
leaves," said Dr Ghartey. "You should have seen the smile on her face 
when she understood that the leaves she found on the ground came from 
the trees."

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