Ophthalmologists has invented and patented “nanodrops” which when placed on corneas have produced improvements in short-sightedness and long-sightedness. If they improve vision in humans when clinical testing is carried out later this year, the nanoparticle solution could eliminate the need for eyeglasses.
He was one of the speakers at Shaare Zedek’s second biennial research day, held in the Jerusalem medical center’s Steinberg Auditorium and attended by some of its 350 physicians and nurses.
Smadja revealed that he and colleagues developed the drops at Bar-Ilan University’s Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, and that they could revolutionize ophthalmological and optometry treatment of patients with myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and other refractory conditions. There are even ways to use nanodrops to replace multifocal lenses so that people could see object from various distances, he said.
“This is a new concept for correcting refractory problems,” Smadja added.
Patients would open an application on their smartphone, measure their eye refraction at home, create a laser pattern and then “laser corneal stamping” of an optical pattern onto the corneal surface of their eyes. This has already been done successfully. Drops with a synthetic nanoparticles solution can correct the vision problem. He did not say how often the drops would have to be applied to replace eyeglasses.