NASA tech benefits human eyes

Infrared vision technologies being incorporated in NASA's James Webb Space Telescope are already proving useful to human eye health."The Webb telescope program has enabled a number of improvements in measurement technology for astronomy, mirror fabrication and measurement of human eyes, diagnosis of ocular diseases and potentially improved surgery," said Dr. Dan Neal, research fellow at Abbott Medical Optics Inc. in Albuquerque.The Webb telescope will be the most scientifically powerful telescope the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has ever built -- 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope. The Webb telescope will find the first galaxies that formed in the early universe, connecting the big bang to the Milky Way Galaxy."The advanced wavefront sensing technology developed for testing the Webb telescope's 18 primary mirrors led to the new applications in other areas," said Tony Hull of L3 Integrated Optical Systems Division-Tinsley Facility in Richmond, Calif., where the Webb's mirrors were recently polished to accuracies of less than one-millionth of an inch."Wavefront sensing" is used to measure shape of the mirrors during fabrication and control the optics once the telescope is in orbit.Ophthalmologists routinely use wavefront technology to measure aberrations of the eye. Those measurements help with diagnosis, research, characterization and planning treatment of eye health issues."The technology also provides more accurate eye measurements for people about to undergo Laser Refractive Surgery," Neal said. "To date 10 million-12 million eyes have been treated with Lasik procedures in the U.S. alone. As technology improves, so does the quality of these procedures."A new "scanning and stitching" technology developed for the Webb telescope led to a number of innovative instrument concepts for more accurate measurement for contact lenses and intra-ocular lenses. Another benefit to eye health is that this technique can help "map" the topography of the eye more accurately.Four patents have been issued as result of innovations driven by the Webb telescope program and "these tools are now used to align and build the next generation of measuring devices for human eyes," Neal said.