This week researchers at the University of Houston’s College of Optometry announced their creation of contact lenses that are custom-made for people with higher-order aberrations. Assistant Professor Jason Marsack said the contacts only work for the individual patient they are designed for, like fingerprints for the eye.

Higher-order aberrations (HOAs) are more subtle and complex optical defects than common refractive errors, and they affect nearly everyone. It’s estimated that up to 15 percent of the total refractive problems people have are caused by HOAs rather than nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.

Until recently, eye doctors did not have the ability to detect higher-order aberrations in routine eye exams. Lately there is growing attention to the development of adaptive optics because new wavefront technology (aberrometry) can detect and measure these aberrations. So far more than 60 different aberrations have been identified, and patients with the same aberration may require unique lenses.

The research team is supported by a grant from the National Eye Institute. The team hopes their laboratory results can lead to products for widespread clinical use.