Alta Eficacia Method certifies that the lenses bearing this accreditation of guarantee are fitted with a special filter that prevents violet light reaching the eye to protect against the appearance of avoidable blindness.. This lens was invented by the Spanish scientist Dr. Celia Sánchez-Ramos

Celia Sánchez-Ramos

Celia Sánchez-Ramos , scientist and researcher in the field of Vision Sciences. Tenure Lecturer at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, PhD in the area of Preventive Medicine, Diploma in Optics, and Researcher with the Neuro-Computation and Neuro-Robotics Group of the Universidad Complutense de...

, who was awarded the prize for the best invention of the year by the World Organization of Intellectual Property.

Alta Eficacia Method - Filter

The lenses accredited by Método Alta Eficacia have a filter that prevents passage of part of the spectrum of blue and violet light, that is hoped to protect the user against avoidable blindness from age-related macular degeneration.

There is conflicting evidence as to whether exposure to sunlight contributes to the development of macular degeneration. A recent study in the British Journal of Ophthalmology on 446 subjects found that it does not. Other research, however, has shown that high-energy visible light (HEV) may contribute to age-related macular degeneration.

Alta Eficacia Tecnología is the owning firm of the patent Therapeutic Contact Lens for Pseudophakic Eyes and/or Eyes Suffering Neurodegeneration, which is claimed may provide protection against avoidable blindness, developed by Celia Sánchez-Ramos

Celia Sánchez-Ramos

Celia Sánchez-Ramos , scientist and researcher in the field of Vision Sciences. Tenure Lecturer at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, PhD in the area of Preventive Medicine, Diploma in Optics, and Researcher with the Neuro-Computation and Neuro-Robotics Group of the Universidad Complutense de...

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Clinical Trials

The method consists of a lens that, despite its yellow colour (intensity can be adjusted according to the state of the retina), does not affect the colour perception of the user, nor the colour of the users eyes according to the results of a study performed on 2000 persons. In addition, it improves contrast sensitivity in the dark although its objective is to protect the retina over the person’s lifetime.

Before filing the patent, both in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, experiments were conducted in mice exposed to different types of light to analyze the damage produced.

In other experiments, pigmented rabbits were subjected to cataract

Cataract

A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light...

 surgery to examine the effects of light in these conditions. Next, the new lenses were prepared to test their efficiency in animals, and it was found that the genes that protect the retina are overexpressed when this protection is in place, while genes causing cell death (and blindness) were overexpressed in the absence of this protection.

Clinical trials are currently underway by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid at 23 hospitals on persons who are undergoing cataract surgery.
When results become available, we will be able to confirm if these intraocular lenses may act as a protection factor against the development of AMD.