Date: 16 May 2011

The School’s Prof. Carly Lam, Prof. To Chi-ho and Dr. Dennis Tse won the Gold Medal with Jury’s Commendation as well as the Grand Prize of the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, for their invention “A novel optical method for retarding myopia progression” at the 39th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva in April 2011. Their invention takes advantage of the innate growth process of the eye (termed “emmetropization”) in which eye size is regulated by optical inputs. The optical method incorporates tailor-made anti-myopic optical signals (called “myopia defocus”) in devices such as contact lenses and spectacle lenses so as to retard myopic progression in children. Their invention has shown a promising anti-myopic effect in experimental myopic models; in some cases, myopia was reversed in myopic animals. A randomized controlled trial using their novel lens is currently under way, and preliminary data show that progression of myopia in children can be reduced by around 50%.

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