Scientists Develop New Technique That Reduces Halo Effect in Contact Lenses

Scientists from Bar-Ilan University in Israel have developed a new technique that significantly reduces the halo effect that is generated when using contact and intra-ocular lenses and looking at bright point sources in dark conditions.

Presbyopia is characterized by the inability to focus on nearby objects as a result of natural aging. Corrective lenses used to address presbyopia often lead to a halo effect. It is mostly experienced at night and it can make driving at night unsafe or even impossible in extreme cases.

Prof. Zeev Zalevsky, head of the Electro-Optics study program of the Faculty of Engineering at the university, explained that their solution involved smoothening the surface structure of a contact lens or an intra-ocular lens.

"The smoothening does not complicate the fabrication complexity of the lens and yet yields the same optical performance in treating presbyopia and assisting people after cataract surgery, but with about one order of magnitude smaller. This allows people that use such lenses to be able to use them also at night," said Zalevsky.

The study was published in Optics Communication.

Source: Medindia