Science and knowledge at the service of noble causes also ennoble higher education institutions. Several university professors decided to join efforts to improve the visual health of children in Comuna 2 in Medellin through ophthalmological consultations and the creation of glasses, if they need them.
These are researchers in optometry and biomedical engineering from Universidad CES who are developing a project to evaluate the visual health of children in Santa Cruz and, according to each case, provide them with glasses created with 3D printing and recyclable materials.
Low cost glasses for children
But the first thing these professors had to face is far from purely scientific activity. They found myths such as that one must wait until a child learns to read to take them for the first time to the optometrist, and realities such as the lack of resources of the children’s caregivers, which delays even for years the visit to the specialist.
In that context, the professors of optometry and biomedical engineering decided to create personalized glasses with recyclable materials to allow low income children from Santa Cruz, in Medellin, to access them, reported El Colombiano.
Maria del Pilar Oviedo, head of the Optometry program at Universidad CES and one of the experts who is part of this initiative, told that outlet that it all started a year ago, when they began to carry out consultations to review the visual health of the inhabitants of Comuna 2.
“One of the findings that drew the attention of the specialists is that many children had never visited the ophthalmologist nor the optometrist, and that several of them had visual conditions without diagnosis and, therefore, without treatment,” highlights the Antioquian newspaper.
Since that moment they have attended 220 children for free and, of these, 30 need glasses. The most common conditions detected by the optometrists were myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and amblyopia (better known as “lazy eye”).
“And this has an impact at different levels. First, on the neurosensory development of that child, because when there are failures in vision at an early age, the minor will have problems in adult life: they may present learning and socialization difficulties,” Oviedo explained in the same outlet.
Personalized glasses with 3D printing
In that process, in addition to diagnosis, the specialists realized that many of the families did not have enough money to buy the glasses. The solution they devised was an alliance with the Biomedical Engineering program of the same university to develop them in an accessible and environmentally sustainable way.
The glasses, made with 3D printing, are adapted to the facial characteristics of each patient; their color can be customized and they are made from PET bottles.
And although details such as tone may seem irrelevant, Oviedo explains that in consultations with minors they realized that some who already had glasses did not use them because at school they were bullied for their appearance.
This project of bringing glasses to the children who need them most will not remain only in Medellin: it will also reach Salgar and Tamesis, with the support of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. The first session in Salgar was carried out a week ago and 250 minors were attended.
The objective is that, by the end of April, the 30 children from Santa Cruz are already using new glasses and that, in total, 800 children are benefited in these three locations.