What Advances in Eye Care and Eyewear Can We Expect in 2009?

Researchers are working on liquid-based lenses for use as implanted contact lenses, cataract surgery lenses and general vision correction. Like plastic and glass, liquid can bend light rays to help eyes achieve precise focus.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin may have suffered defeat as a vice presidential candidate in 2008. But in 2009 we expect her famous rectangular eyeglasses to endure as a fashion trend.

Soon you may be able to switch from dark sunglasses to clear lenses simply by touching a control in your eyeglass frame.
By introducing corrected genes to replace defective ones, eye doctors may be able to cure inherited forms of blinding eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa.

Artificial implants that stimulate light-sensitive cells in the retina of the eye are showing promise. With continued development, these retinal implants may improve vision for people with eye damage from diseases such as macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

Soon people with presbyopia may be able to wear electronically controlled multifocal eyeglasses with powers that adjust instantly for clear vision at different distances. The lenses will create a larger field of view and eliminate many of the optical limitations of current bifocals, trifocals and progressive lenses.

If final FDA approval occurs, soon you may be able to purchase a product that stimulates eyelash growth for cosmetic purposes. It’s based on a glaucoma drug, which has the hair growth side effect.

Contact lenses may soon serve as a drug delivery system for people suffering from eye allergies, glaucoma or other eye conditions that require frequent use of eye drop medication. The lenses will release the drugs onto the surface of the eye in a controlled, timed-release fashion and eliminate the common problem of people forgetting to use their eye drop medicines.
Chemically treated eyeglass lenses that automatically change tints in sunlight or shade are becoming more sophisticated, and these light-sensitive (or "photochromic") lenses will be offered in more colors.

If you need cataract surgery in the future, you'll likely have more access to different kinds of artificial lenses that can provide vision at all distances simultaneously. Most current cataract lenses provide sharp focus only at one distance, such as far or near.

Contact lenses with built-in microsensors that monitor eye pressure soon may help glaucoma patients monitor their eye pressure at home, just as patients with high blood pressure and diabetes can self-monitor their diseases between doctor visits with blood pressure and blood glucose monitors.
Sophisticated ways of measuring how the eye sees may mean that your eye exams will be more automated and instantaneous, making conventional eye charts obsolete.

The struggling U.S. economy will continue to affect the LASIK and other corrective surgery market in 2009. But LASIK's loss is eyewear's gain: many people who were considering refractive surgery will continue wearing contacts or purchase stylish eyeglasses instead.

Wavefront optical technology increasingly will be used to create contact lenses and eyeglasses that produce sharper vision than currently available lenses. These advanced lenses will enable many wearers to see significantly better than 20/20.