New NASA Technology May Benefit Vision Correction Treatments

The recent mothballing of the space shuttle program may have made big headlines, but NASA continues to innovate, and technology being utilized in the agency’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is already showing applications in the field of eye health.

The JWST is an infrared telescope 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope and with a projected launch date of 2018. The JWST program has resulted in a number of technological advancements, including applications in eye measurement, vision problem diagnosis and maybe even improved eye surgery techniques.

Testing for the JWST’s 18 main telescopic mirrors, for example, involved the use of advanced wavefront sensing technology. Wavefront was used to precisely measure the shape of the mirrors during production and will be utilized to help control the JWST’s optics after it begins its orbit.

In the field of vision correction, wavefront is used by ophthalmologists prior to LASIK procedures to measure aberrations and map the eye’s surface.

“The technology … provides more accurate eye measurements for people about to undergo laser refractive surgery,” said Dr. Dan Neal, a research fellow at Abbott Medical Optics Inc., in an Aug. 1 UPI article.

The development of the JWST also yielded advancements in so-called “scanning-and-stitching” technology, in which multiple images can be accurately connected to help more thoroughly map the surface of the human eye. Scientists believe this may improve the preciseness of measurements used for the design of contact lenses and intraocular lenses.

To learn more about LASIK or to find an ophthalmologist in your area, please contact The LASIK Directory.