Adib’s historical perspective look at optometry started with The Book of Optica wirtten in 1040, although the first reference to a prescription was not until 1286, in Italy. Early lenses were made of glass or crystal mounted on handles, with the first double-hinge ear pieces appearing in 1752, and the first optical shop in London in 1750. Meanwhile, in America, Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals in 1784. Standardised eye tests date from 1862, and in 1914 eyesight tests for drivers were introduced. Only in 1959 did varifocals first appear.
Early treatments such as cataract operations in the 17th and 18th centuries involved inserting a needle directly into the cornea without anaesthetic! Similar treatment in the 1920s enabled the artist Claude Monet to recover a much fuller range of colours in his paintings – a perception-change still experienced following modern operations. Until the 1940s glaucoma was treated by slicing into the side of the eye to reduce internal pressures. Sadly it only gave temporary relief. The first glass contact lenses were fitted in 1889, and plastic ones in 1938.
Turning to modern techniques, Adib described Ortho-K where wearing a weighted ‘lense’ externally on the eyes at night helps to reshape the cornea and so avoid the need for corrective glasses or lenses. He described optical coherence tomography which quickly gives an in-depth cross section of each eye and is an invaluable tool in identifying diseases such macular degeneration, retarded detachment, and diabetic complications.
He praised the funding of optical services in Wales and stressed the extent that opticians have when training to identify and treat a range of conditions.
For the future we may have AI techniques to spot tiny markers for diseases such as Glaucoma at an earlier stage, smart contact lenses able to monitor conditions, brain implants (Elon Musk is already funding a trial called Neurolink), and ultimately gene therapy.
At the end, Adib surprised us all by admitting that the talk summary from him and circulated in advance to the group had been written by AI!
Altogether an eye opening talk!
Jim Handley
