AUTOFOCUS TELESCOPE SYSTEM FOR LOW VISION

OCUTECH, INC., PLANS TO DEVELOP AN AUTOFOCUS TELESCOPE THAT CAN BE MOUNTED ONTO AN EYEGLASS FRAME FOR USE BY THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED. THE DESIGN OF THE DEVICE WILL ADDRESS THE MAJOR COMPLAINTS OF USERS OF CONVENTIONAL LOW-VISION BIOPTIC SYSTEMS REGARDING FIELD OF VIEW, WEIGHT, AND APPEARANCE. THE DEVICE WILL BE DERIVED FROM CURRENT WORK ON THE HORIZONTAL LIGHT PATH VISION-ENHANCING SYSTEM (HLP-VES). THE HLP-VES IS A MANUALLY FOCUSED KEPLERIAN TELESCOPE THAT SUCCESSFULLY ADDRESSES THE ACCEPTABILITY ISSUES NOTED ABOVE AND APPEARS TO LEND ITSELF TO THE APPLICATION OF AUTOFOCUS TECHNOLOGY. INITIAL EFFORTS WILL ADAPT PROMISING AUTOFOCUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE TO THE SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE CRITERIA OF A LOW-VISION TELESCOPE, FOLLOWED BY OPTICAL BENCH TESTINGOF A CURRENT HLP-VES DEVICE ADAPTED WITH THESE AUTOFOCUS COMPONENTS. A PRELIMINARY PROTOTYPE WILL BE CONSTRUCTED FOR ADDITIONAL HEAD-BORNE LABORATORY EVALUATION PRIOR TO THE PHASE II PRODUCTION OF PRESCRIBABLE PROTOTYPES FOR CLINICAL EVALUATION. THE SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH A DEVICE MAY HAVE SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT UPON THE ACCEPTANCE, ADAPTATION, AND UTILIZATION OF LOW-VISION TELESCOPIC DEVICESBY THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED.