IT MAY sound surprising, but the human eye doesn’t have much going for it as an optical system.

Now researchers in Galway are using adaptive optics to test how well particular lenses work in patients before they go under the scalpel. “The eye is a pretty bad optical system,” says Chris Dainty, (pictured) professor of experimental physics at NUI Galway and vice president of the Optical Society of America.

His group has developed a system to alter aberrations or distortions in the optics of the eye and improve vision.

“We can give you some magic spectacles,” explains Dainty. “They weigh about 100kg so are not exactly very practical, but by using them to correct aberrations we can give you super-vision.”

They also use the approach to mimic surgery. “We could simulate the laser refractive surgery you are going to have done to improve your vision,” says Dainty.

“Suppose a company comes up with a new lens design. To do field tests on people is very expensive, and that’s not even dealing with the ethical issue. It would basically be to put these lenses into people and ask ‘do you see better?’ And what if they say no?” asks Dainty.

Instead he sees commercial opportunities for testing potential lenses in patients before surgery.

“When a company comes with a new design, we can simulate its effect,” explains Dainty.

“We can put a subject in front of our equipment. . . say this is the standard surgical lens we would implant and do an experiment. Then we say ‘here’s a new lens – do you see better or not?’.”