Fluidic Lens Maker - disruptive approach to ophthalmic manufacturing

ongoing

In this PoC we propose to develop the Fluidic Lens Maker - a device which will enable rapid, wasteless, and automated end-to-end fabrication of ophthalmic lenses (i.e. vision correction eyeglasses), without relying on complex and expensive infrastructure or elaborate supply chains. The Fluidic Lens Maker will be based on a technology that we have developed as part of our ERC project ‘Fluidic Shaping’, which allows to shape curable liquids into high-quality optics by utilizing the surface tension of the liquid. The lenses are produced in minutes and have an outstanding surface quality without the need for any machining or post-processing. The method provides a reduction of >90% in material waste, which translates to major reductions in the overall cost of the lens. During this PoC we will: 1. Develop full automation of the fabrication steps, which are currently done manually, making the fabrication process independent of the environmental conditions or of the skill level of its operator, thus allowing to improve precision and consistency of the resulting lenses. 2. Explore new materials, both commercially available and specially designed, that are particularly well suited for ophthalmic applications and are compatible with our approach. 3. Test the quality of the resulting lenses using our in-house measuring equipment, and at our industrial partners’ facilities. 4. Connect with key players in developed and developing countries, map potential strategic partners, reach out to receive inputs from VC funds, define the features of an MVP, perform a market research, and develop a preliminary business model. The project, if successful, would pave the way to an entirely new approach for ophthalmic manufacturing that would reduce costs in the developed world and open up markets that have thus far been untapped – those of developing countries where there are currently over 1 billion people who suffer from uncorrected vision impairment and do not have access to eyewear.