Between the ages of 45 and 50, everyone develops presbyopia due to the eye’s lens becoming less flexible. The result is a gradual loss of the ability to focus on nearby objects that you begin to notice when needing to hold newspapers and restaurant menus at arm’s length to read the fine print. A natural part of aging that continues to worsen until about age 60, presbyopia has traditionally been treated with reading glasses, bifocals, trifocals, or progressive lenses. Some people end up switching between multiple eyeglasses during the day, using one pair for reading, another when working at the computer, and yet another for distance vision.
Now there’s a new option: Superfocus, the first adjustable-focus eyeglasses to treat presbyopia. Designed to mimic the natural focusing ability of the youthful eye, the glasses can be manually adjusted by touching a lever on the nose bridge for clear, undistorted focus at any distance. The technology (formerly called TruFocals) has received several awards including the Wall Street Journal’s 2010 Silver Innovation Award with one judge, Richard S. Lang, MD, a physician at the Cleveland Clinic, calling the eyeglasses a paradigm shift in addressing a problem “that has been handled the same way for many years.”
This year, Superfocus received flight certification from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for use by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, as well as the Space Shuttle Discovery’s final space flight. Since the average age of astronauts is 48, many of them have presbyopia, according to Dr. C. Robert Gibson, a vision consultant to NASA. “Astronauts must be able to perform tasks that presbyopia can make difficult, such as viewing overhead instrument panels and computers in an enclosed micro-gravity environment.” Adjustable-focus glasses could help make these tasks easier for aging astronauts, Dr. Gibson stated in an announcement.
Superfocus glasses are round and remind some people of the spectacles worn by Harry Potter. Here’s how they work: each lens is actually a set of two lenses, one firm and one flexible. The flexible lens (near the eye) has a transparent, stretchy membrane attached to a clear, rigid surface. The pocket between the surface and membrane holds a small amount of clear fluid. As the wearer moves the slider on the nose bridge, it pushes on the fluid, altering the shape of the flexible lens. This changes the vision correction in much the same way as the eye’s own lens works during youth.
For people with presbyopia, Superfocus eyeglasses offer several benefits over conventional glasses, says Joseph Fishkin, MD, a board-certified ophthalmologist in Emerson, New Jersey. “Bifocals and trifocals have a visible line in the lenses, which can make it uncomfortable to shift your gaze from near vision to distance vision, and can make people look older. Progressive lenses don’t have a line, and slowly change from reading glasses at the bottom of the lens to providing distance vision at the top. However, you still have to pay attention to which part of the glasses you’re looking into, since the lenses only keep a limited area of your vision in focus.”
Once the Superfocus glasses are adjusted, the wearer’s entire field of vision is in focus, so the user can slide the switch to focus only on a newspaper in hand, then make another adjustment to focus on the TV across the room. This feature is particularly helpful for middle-aged people who work in front of a computer, says Dr. Fishkin. “With conventional glasses, people with presbyopia end up craning their neck to peer through the middle zone of their trifocals, which can cause neck strain, especially if you use a computer for many hours.”
It typically takes users a few days to get used to the glasses, adds Dr. Fishkin. “The first day, people spend a lot of time moving the switch back and forth to see which setting is best for various distances, but within a week—or less—it becomes second nature.” Most vision insurance plans cover the Superfocus glasses, which are priced at under $700, and are available through the manufacturer’s website and some eye care practitioners.
CONNECT THE DOTS
To learn more about Superfocus glasses, visit the manufacturer’s website. For more information on presbyopia, go to MedlinePlus, or the websites of the National Eye Institute or the American Optometric Association. Also check out our blog post on another alternative to bifocals.
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