Eyeglasses have gotten pretty cheap over the decades, but the process of obtaining a prescription is still too expensive for many people around the world. One reason for the high cost of prescriptions is the expense, and size, of traditional autorefractors. These devices are bulky, and so can’t be easily transported between places lacking proper eyecare facilities. They also tend to cost many thousands of dollars, often much too much for poor regions of the world. There are cheap solutions out there, but they have limitations, including Opternative that requires a computer and smartphone to be connected to the internet. Now a new cheap and compact autorefractor is hitting the market in India with a promise to allow for cheap eyewear prescriptions just about anywhere.
The QuickSee device, made by an MIT spinoff company called PlenOptika, provides autorefraction measurements in about ten seconds. It costs about a third of what a conventional autorefractor costs and it’s small enough to be held by the patient while performing the exam.
A recent study involving more than 700 people demonstrated that the device perfectly prescribed glasses to 85% of the subjects, while a conventional approach achieved 91%. While the technology isn’t perfect, it sounds like it’s certainly good enough to return excellent vision to most people that will be using it.
Link: PlenOptika homepage…
Via: MIT…