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Short History Of Corrective Vision

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Since the earliest discovery of the enlargement of letters as seen through a glass filled with water way back in the 1st century AD the methods used to correct

Many people over the years can be accredited in some form or another with the improvement of spectacles as we know it today.

The first accounts of the actual manufacturing of eyeglasses/spectacles can be traced back to Italy in the year 1286. This revolutionary new device changed the lives of many. The first spectacles were documented in china in the 15th century. The question can be asked, “would Benjamin Franklin have been as successful as a scientist if he had not made use of and improved this invention?”

The next step in the evolution of corrective vision was the contact lens; the first successful fitting of a contact lens can be accredited to Adolf Fick in 1888. He successfully fitted a pair of contact lenses that were made of blown glass. He published his findings in a journal entitled Archiv fur Augenheilkunde in March 1888.

Scientists have now included the contact lens in their endeavors with regards to the digital age. Researchers at the University of Washington have successfully embedded micro technology directly into the contact lens. The applications for such a device once released to the public would be enormous. As the race for ever smaller and more compact wearable computers increases the obvious drawback is the fact that if the displays are too small then we will not be able to see the information on the screen, hopefully, this will be the stepping stone regarding human interface technology.

The next step in the corrective process was corrective surgery where there were generally two options available to the patient. The first option would be to embed a contact lens behind the cornea of the eye.

The second option would be a procedure whereby with the use of a laser the surgeon reshapes the cornea in order to improve your vision. iLasik surgery has become the industry standard whereby this process is measured. The advantage of iLasik surgery is that each procedure is customized for the individual client the customization extends down to the correct procedure for each eye.

In the digital age where we spend more and more of our time in front of digital screens, we find that more people are requiring corrective vision at a younger age. These advances in the correction of vision have enabled many to live a more productive and active life.