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Biotech

Submission + - Inventor to help world's poorest see better (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by
mpthompson
mpthompson writes: "A retired professor of physics at Oxford University, Josh Silver, is on a quest to help the world's poor see better. Intended for the poorest regions of the world where the optician to population ratio is 1:1000000, Silver has developed a pair of very inexpensive adaptive glasses which are "tuned" by the wearer to correct his or her own vision. The wearer adjusts a dial on the syringe to add or reduce amount of fluid in the membrane between tough outer plastic lenses, thus changing the power of the lens. When the wearer is happy with the strength of each lens the membrane is sealed by twisting a small screw, and the syringes removed. Some 30,000 pairs of his spectacles have already been distributed in 15 countries and next year a trial is set to begin in India which will distribute 1 million more pairs of glasses to the poor. His hope is to reach up to 100 million pairs annually and reach a billion of the world's poorest people by 2020. The implications of bringing glasses within the reach of poor communities are enormous, allowing people access to education and work that would otherwise be out of reach due to poor eyesight."

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