A bionic lens, developed by a Canadian optometrist, could give any seeing person vision that it three times better than 20/20. Dr. Garth Webb, an optometrist in British Columbia, has developed the Ocumetics Bionic Lens, a permanent implant that can give super-vision to anyone over the age of 25, “no matter how crummy your eyes are,” he says.
“This is vision enhancement that the world has never seen before,” Dr. Webb told CBC News.
The Ocumetics Bionic Lens is surgically implanted – in a procedure that takes around 8 minutes – and its effects are immediate. Due to the way eyes grow and form, the procedure is only suitable for those above 25 years-of-age. Because it essentially replaces the eye’s natural lens, it also prevents the formation of cataracts.
“If you can just barely see the clock at 10 feet, when you get the Bionic Lens you can see the clock at 30 feet away,” Dr. Webb explained.
His whole life, Dr. Webb has been driven to make glasses and contact lenses redundant, and puts that mission down to his childhood experience. He was given glasses in the second grade, a look which didn’t jive with that of his idols.
“My heroes were cowboys, and cowboys just did not wear glasses,” Dr. Webb said. “At age 45 I had to struggle with reading glasses, which like most people, I found was a great insult. To this day I curse my progressive glasses. I also wear contact lenses, which I also curse just about every day.”
Following animal and human trials, Dr. Webb hopes that the Ocumetics Bionic Lens will be available to Canadian patients within 2 years.
“Perfect eyesight should be a human right,” he said.
