Making Ophthalmology Optical Diagnostics Affordable and Accessible through Portable/Wearable Devices
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Dr. Susana Marcos presents how portable optical diagnostic devices inspired by astronomy technology are making eye care more affordable and accessible worldwide. Her research has led to two key innovations: QuickSee, an affordable auto-refraction device now used in 45+ countries to provide accurate prescriptions at low cost, and SYMVIS Gecko, a binocular visual simulator that lets patients experience multifocal lens corrections before surgery.
Key takeaways
- Wavefront sensing technology from ground-based telescopes has been adapted to create portable, affordable refraction devices that provide accurate prescriptions in under a minute, addressing the global shortage of eye care specialists.
- QuickSee is deployed in 45 countries and has already transformed vision care for over 5 million patients, particularly in low-resource areas where optometrists are critically scarce (e.g., one per 250,000 people in India).
- SYMVIS Gecko allows patients to experience how they will see with different multifocal intraocular lens corrections before surgery, improving clinical decision-making and patient satisfaction while helping manufacturers showcase lens options.
- Myopia affects 30% of the population in Western countries and up to 90% of children in some Asian populations, linked to increased indoor work and reduced sunlight exposure, making accessible screening and correction critical.
- Interdisciplinary collaboration between physicists, engineers, biologists, and clinicians—combined with partnerships between academia, industry, and healthcare organizations—is essential for translating scientific discoveries into technologies that benefit society.
About Dr Susana MarcosDr. Susana Marcos is a professor of Optics and Ophthalmology at the University of Rochester, where she directs the Center for Visual Science. She was previously at Spain's CSIC research institution and has developed breakthrough optical diagnostic technologies now deployed globally.
AI-generated from the meeting recording — AI can make mistakes, so check the recording for anything important.
MEETING FOR THE WEEK OF Mar 11, 2024
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Program: Making Ophthalmology Optical Diagnostics Affordable and Accessible through Portable/Wearable Devices
Speaker: Dr Susana Marcos
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Send Happy DollarsProgram: Making Ophthalmology Optical Diagnostics Affordable and Accessible through Portable/Wearable Devices
Speaker: Dr Susana Marcos
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Diagnostic devices in ophthalmology inspired by adaptive optics technologies in astronomy have made their way to the clinic in the form of affordable portable or wearable instruments. The Quicksee is an accurate handheld auto refractometer bringing eye prescriptions (the bottleneck to refraction corrections) to remote, underserved areas. The SimVis is a head-mounted binocular visual simulator of presbyopic corrections bringing patients the experience of vision prior to surgery.
Dr. Susana Marcos is currently the David R Williams Director of the Center for Visual Science, Nicholas George Professor of Optics at the Institute of Optics, and Professor of Ophthalmology at the Flaum Eye Institute, at the University of Rochester, New York. She is the former Director of the Institute of Optics at the National Research Council in Spain. Dr. Marcos obtained her Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Salamanca, Spain, and was a Fulbright and Human Frontier Postdoctoral Fellow at the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Harvard University. She is a leading researcher in visual optics, having pioneered multiple technologies of eye optical imaging diagnostics and treatments, including novel IOL designs. She has published more than 200 highly cited publications, is a co-inventor of 26 patents, and participated in two spin-out companies (Plenoptika and 2EyesVision). She is a Fellow of Optica, the European Optical Society, and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
Dr. Marcos' work has been recognized with numerous awards including the Adolph Lomb Medal and the Edwin Land Medal of Optica (formerly Optical Society of America), the ICO Prize by the International Commission for Optics, the Ramon y Cajal Medal by the Royal Academy of Sciences, the Alcon Award, the Physics, Innovation and Technology Award by the Royal Society of Physics, or the National Research Award in Engineering by the Spanish Government, the Jaime I Award (the last two presented by the King of Spain).
Members and guests, please welcome Dr. Susana Marcos!
To learn more, go to:
Marcos Lab: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/people/112362803-susana-marcos
Plenoptika: https://plenoptika.com
2EyesVision: https://www.2eyesvision.com
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