Two award-winning eye care innovations from PolyU were recently showcased on HOY TV. These include the world’s first portable High-Definition corneal topographer developed by Professor Kee Chea-su’s team, and the Vcare - Vision Training VR Device created by Dr Tang Yuk-ming’s team. The two researchers discussed the significance of their innovations on the programme.

Professor Kee Chea-su, Head and Professor of the PolyU School of Optometry and Associate Director of the Research Centre for SHARP Vision, explained that the portable High-Definition corneal topographer supports eye care practitioners in assessing risks and facilitating timely interventions, which are critical for visual development in children as young as four years old. It outperforms existing devices with its flexibility, compact size, utilisation of normative data from Chinese populations, and affordability, enabling early diagnosis of vision conditions such as astigmatism and corneal ectasia.

“The topographer incorporates AI algorithms to enhance accuracy based on a corneal topography database. Data from 990 children aged four to twelve form the database, helping operators without relevant knowledge determine if a child's cornea is normal. With more data in the future, accuracy can improve further”, Professor Kee noted. He hoped the topographer could be used for infants in the future for earlier diagnosis and intervention. The innovation won the Prize of the Saudi Arabian Delegation and a Gold Medal at the 49th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva in 2024.

Another featured innovation was the Vcare - Vision Training VR Device, developed by the research team led by Dr Tang Yuk-ming, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Co-founder of Vcare Vision Technology Limited. The special VR device offers vision correction training for myopia, amblyopia, and strabismus through engaging VR games and exercises for children aged six to twelve.

“Through an immersive, game-like training method, children can strengthen their eye muscles by adjusting their focus with a screen. This enhances their eye adjustment ability, helping to control myopia and other eye problems,” Dr Tang explained. This innovation also received a Gold Medal at the 2024 Geneva Exhibition.

Professor Kee highlighted that the success of these innovations demonstrated the development opportunities in medical-engineering collaboration. He looked forward to future collaborations to improve the inventions.

Watch the programme here:

HOY TV (12:30 - 22:19)