No More Eye Charts?
Abridged Version

From a news story by
CNN San Francisco Reporter Don Knapp

March 1, 2000

Ronald Thomas McKay demonstrates a device that shows how well his eyes can see the world. The Visx device sends a hundred thousand beams of light into the eye. These beams reflect how well the lens of the eye can focus.

McKay's prototype or model results from an invention by Josef Bille twenty-five years ago. Bille was a physics professor at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. He wanted to counter the distortion found in telescopic images.

The eye's retina, a delicate membrane, reflects these light beams when they hit the eye. These reflections are bent a bit by abnormalities in the eye. Figuring how much the eyes bend toward light, enable doctors to see how much eye correction is needed. Doctors may not need to have patients read the eye charts.

Dr. Stephen McLeod is an ophthalmologist. He works at the University of California at San Francisco. McLeod says that the bent of the eye toward light does not offer enough information. According to McLeod, the eye is too complex to be corrected by this Visx machine. McLeod says that the machine can be useful, but he will continue using eye charts with his patients. country.

Additional notes:

The word Visx refers to laser vision correction or laser eye surgery. It is a brand name with a promotional site at http://www.visx.com.

Twenty-five years later, Josef Bille is still an inventor in Germany. He has recently invented lenses that will cost about one dollar a pair and should be on the market soon. It is possible that his designs will allow people to see at night. These night vision lenses will enable people over the age of 50 to see as much as five times better at night. Bille is also designing special vision devices for people in professions where perfect sight is a must.

For more information go to:

• http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/int/981012/science.and_let_there_b18a.html
  
• http://coltrane.thirdage.com/news/archive/980803-05.html

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