Researchers from the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry in experiments with the specially designed contact lenses found that they changed eye growth and refractive state, or focus, in a predictable way.
The lenses successfully reduced the elongation of the eye that causes myopia progression, researchers said in a statement.
Myopia or nearsightedness develops when the eye is too long, making it difficult to focus light from distant objects on the retina.
Glasses or contact lenses that correct the defocus on the main visual axis can create a slight degree of farsightedness in the peripheral retina.
The peripheral farsightedness may worsen myopia because as children grow, the eye grows to move the retina to where the light is focused, naturally lengthening the eye even further.
The experimental lenses can induce changes in growth that help reshape the eye in the desired way. The lenses alter how light is focused in the peripheral retina and use different focal powers within a single lens: either alternating focal powers across the lens, or confined to the outer edge.
The findings will be presented at the Optical Society's (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2012.
