Liquid crystals could tackle presbyopia

A University of Leeds postgraduate research student hopes to correct presbyopia with a new lens implant that uses the same material found in smartphone and TV screens.

Devesh Mistry, a student at the School of Physics and Astronomy, was working with liquid crystal to create an artificial lens that would adjust and focus automatically, depending on the eye muscles’ movement. He aimed to have a prototype ready by the end of his doctorate in 2018 and hoped that, within a decade, the research could see the new lens being implanted into eyes in a quick and straightforward surgical procedure under local anaesthetic. It was hoped that the lens could also have an application in tackling cataracts.