Fast-Switching, High-Contrast, Electrochromic Sunwear for Persons with Age-Relate

描述：老年性黄斑变性(ARMD)困扰着60岁人群的40%。美国70%的视障人口是60岁；在这其中，ARMD是造成视力障碍的最大原因。ARMD的一个主要特征是无法在明/暗之间进行适应(L/D)，导致室内/室外功能性视力丧失。目前还没有经过验证的、实用的、非侵入性的治疗ARMD的内科或外科治疗方法，适用于所有患者。目前严重不足的解决办法：(1)L/D.之间快速戴上/摘下多层太阳镜。(2)慢开关光致变色(需要紫外线激活，不完全切换25-30 S，完成3-5分钟，不能在车内/室内工作)。(3)昂贵的抗血管生成药物、低视力辅助剂、光动力疗法(v.有限缓解)。(4)手术，主要用于“终末期”ARMD，例如：望远镜植入(仅部分视力)；激光光凝(仅适用于非中心凹下ARMD)；黄斑下、视网膜下手术(有限成功)。一种解决方案将极大地提高40%患有ARMD的成年人以及患有其他与年龄相关的疾病的人的生活质量/福祉，例如糖尿病视网膜病变、角膜营养不良、视网膜色素变性、瓦格纳综合征、视网膜切割症。在早期的工作中，我们的团队对亚特兰大退伍军人中心60名ARMD退伍军人进行了广泛的研究，发现他们可以从基于液晶(LC)的快速变暗(&lt；5 S)电致变色(EC)眼镜中受益匪浅，而不是多重太阳镜/-光致变色；然而LC眼镜有严重的缺陷。在目前的第一阶段，一项突破性的基于导电聚合物(CP)的EC技术被展示出来：(1)完美匹配，互补着色CP，产生典型的L/D对比度70%/10%(380-760 nm，行业标准算法)。(2)价格低廉(&lt；$3)的控制器，其算法产生的开关时间比传统电压控制快5倍(L-&>D 2至4 S，D-&>L 1 S)； 自动化的光传感器控制。(3)薄、柔韧、耐用。(4)可循环性&GT；10^5周期。(5)优良的光存储能力。(6)V.低功率(15 UW/cm2，+/-3.0 VDC)。(7)估计。&lt；27美元一双。(8)开发了大电流恒电位仪，(每台200英镑)，大大降低了制造成本。建议的工作将：(1)完成最终的技术改进(主要是更低的电阻率，更薄的ITO衬底，以显著提高开关时间和L/D对比度)。(2)制作3个不同产品设计的原型。(3)通过对亚特兰大退伍军人中心ARMD患者(75例年龄55岁，ARMD+其他年龄相关眼病)的测试进行优化。(4)进一步小型化，制造控制器、电池。(5)完成初期生产。最优化。学习。(6)初步试点 植物，100副眼镜/月。(7)向上扩展：每月1000至10,000个眼镜，解决自动化问题，估计。产品成本。(8)与选定的合同制造商建立关系，建立营销联盟。成功的第二阶段还将生产电致变色材料，可以取代整个光致变色材料市场，从而大幅降低ARMD太阳镜的成本。与亚特兰大退伍军人康复中心共同努力。对于Aging Vision Lost，两家工业自动化公司，几家眼镜经销商。

DESCRIPTION: Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) afflicts > 40% of the >60 population. > 70% of US visually impaired population is > 60; within this, ARMD is the largest cause of impairment. A primary feature of ARMD is inability to adapt between light/dark (L/D), leading to loss in functional vision indoors/ outdoors. There is currently no proven, practical, noninvasive-medical or surgical treatment for ARMD applicable to all patients. Current highly inadequate remedies: (1) Multiple layers of sunglasses put on/taken off rapidly between L/D. (2) V. slow-switching photochromics (need UV light for activation, incomplete switching 25-30 s, complete 3-5 min., don't work inside cars/indoors). (3) Expensive anti-angiogenic drugs, low-vision aids, photodynamic therapy (v. limited relief). (4) Surgery, mostly for "end-stage" ARMD, e.g.: telescope implant (only partial vision); laser photo-coagulation (only for non-sub-foveal ARMD); submacular, subretinal surgery (limited success). A solution would greatly improve the quality of life/well-being of the 40% of age >60 adults afflicted with ARMD, as well as persons with other, age-related diseases, e.g. diabetic retinopathy, corneal dystrophy, retinitis pigmentosa, Wagner syndrome, retinoschesis. In earlier work, our group extensively studied age >60 ARMD veterans at Atlanta VA Center, showing they could benefit highly from fast-darkening (< 5 s) electrochromic (EC) glasses based on liquid crystals (LCs), vs. multiple sunglasses/-photochromics; LC glasses however had serious drawbacks. In present Phase I, a breakthrough EC technology based on Conducting Polymers (CPs) was demonstrated with: (1) perfectly matched, complimentarily coloring CPs, yielding typical L/D contrast 70%/10% (380-760 nm, industry-standard algorithm). (2) Inexpensive (< $3) Controller with algorithm yielding switching times > 5X faster than with conventional voltage control (L->D 2 to 4 s, D->L 1 s); fully automated, photosensor control. (3) V. thin, flexible, durable. (4) Cyclability > 10^5 cycles. (5) Excellent optical memory. (6) V. low power (15 uW/cm2, +/- 3.0 VDC). (7) Est. < $27/pair. (8) High current potentiostat developed, (< $200/unit), dramatically reducing manufacture cost. Proposed work will: (1) Complete final tech refinement (mainly lower-resistivity, thinner ITO substrates to dramatically enhance switching time and L/D contrast). (2) Fabricate prototypes of 3 distinct product designs. (3) Optimize by testing on ARMD patients at Atlanta VA Center (75 subjects age > 55, ARMD + other age-related eye diseases). (4) Further miniaturize, manufacture Controller, battery. (5) Complete initial producn. optimizn. studies. (6) Initial pilot plant, 100-glasses-pairs/month. (7) Scale up: 1000 to 10,000 glasses/month, resolve automation issues, est. product costs. (8) Establish relationships with selected contract manufacturers, marketing tie-ups. A successful Phase II will also yield electrochromics that could replace entire photochromics market, thus dramatically lowering costs for ARMD sunglasses. Joint effort with Atlanta VA Rehab R&D Ctr. for Aging Vision Loss, two industrial automation firms, several eyewear distributors.