PROJECTS
The Visión project is seeking on the premises of opticians to detect functional vision problems and signs of ophthalmic impairments. In this project, IK4-TEKNIKER has designed precision mechanical and electronic solutions.
Half the population has some optometric problem that affects their visual function, and one in every ten people has severe impairments that hamper their professional and personal development. Yet it is calculated that 490 million European citizens lack access to professional services that enable these dysfunctions to be spotted and corrected in time.
To facilitate the exploration and diagnosis of problems in visual function, the Visión project, led by the Navarre-based company DavalorSalud and in which the IK4-TEKNIKER R&D centre is participating, is working on the manufacture of a piece of equipment that applies and combines knowledge about optics, precision mechanics, electronics and programming (control of actuators; digital image and voice processing; secure management of large databases, and remote communications). Apart from IK4-TEKNIKER, the project has the participation of: VICOMTECH, that belongs to the IK4 Research Alliance, the Centre for Sensors, Instruments and Systems Development (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) and Terrassa School of Optics and Optometry (FOOT).
Specifically, IK4-TEKNIKER is responsible for designing and developing precision mechatronic solutions to be incorporated into this tool, which will enable patients to undergo specialised tests on the optician's premises themselves. What is more, the R&D centre is responsible for assembling the functional prototypes of the project, which has necessitated the development of a set of demonstrators and specific means for measuring, adjustment and calibration.
The Visión project constitutes a step forward in the diagnosis of functional vision problems because it is based on exhaustive, objective, accurate, verifiable and widely documented measurements as well as on the therapeutic treatment of them without the patient leaving the optician's premises.
Those responsible for the project, which was launched in 2010, expect the manufacturing of the components needed for fine-tuning the machine as well as the production means for manufacturing it in large numbers will contribute towards the development of the local business base.
Right now, various units of the equipment developed within the framework of the Visión project are already available, and they are set to receive certification in January 2015 and marketing authorisation in April of the same year.
With the future in mind, the project is also seeking to broaden the applications of the Visión project so that they can be extended to areas like hearing, visuomotor and psychomotor coordination that will allow the same advances to be achieved in the diagnosis of disorders in these areas.
