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Table of Contents 1 Administrative Information 2 Faculty Support 3 Team Documents 3.1 Marketing Tool 3.2 Important Concepts 3.3 Current Design 3.4 Related Websites 3.5 [[Planning]] 3.6 [[Concept Development]] 3.7 [[System Level Design]] 3.8 [[Detail Design]] 3.9 [[Testing and Refinement]] 3.10 Published Documents

Over one billion people need glasses but do not own them. People who have correctable vision problems are often handicapped as a result as the lack of correction. Without glasses, simple tasks become more difficult or impossible, productivity slows, and accidents occur more frequently. Based purely on the lack of productivity and enjoyment, the lack of eyeglasses is one of the largest solvable problems in the developing world. In fact, it is significantly more common than often cited problems such as cataracts or glaucoma. Glasses could correct the majority of vision problems encountered in the developing world, reducing the impact of presbyopia, myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism.

The Senior Design team will recreate an exsistng product called the FOCOMETER created by InFOCUS.InFOCUS (Interprofessional Fostering of Ophthalmic Care for Underserved Sectors) began in 1987 as an outreach project of the University of Houston College Optometry. The project produced the FOCOMETER an affordable refracting device appropriate to areas without access to professional personnel, electricity or costly equipment.

Administrative Information

Project Name

A hand-held instrument to measure visual refractive errors

Project Number

PO8402

Project Family

Sustainable Technologies for Developing Countries

Track

Sustainable Products, Systems and Technologies

Start Term

2007-2

End Term

2007-3

Faculty Guide

Dr. James Taylor of ISE

Faculty Consultant

Dr. Andres Carrano of ISE

Graduate Teaching Assistant

TBD

Primary Customer

Developing Countries

Customer contact information

customer company here

customer title here

customer email, phone, address, etc, here

Faculty Support

Faculty Support

Name	Discipline	Role	E-mail Address
James Taylor	ISE	Guide	jateie@rit.edu
Rob Stevens	ME	Guide	rjseme@rit.edu
Andres Carrano	ISE	Consultant	alceie@rit.edu
Brian Thorn	ISE	Consultant	bkteie@rit.edu
Jamie Winebrake	PP	Consultant	jjwgpt@rit.edu
Scott Hawker	SE	Consultant	hawker@mail.rit.edu
Paul Grebinger	ANTH	Consultant	pfggss@rit.edu
John Ward	BUS/MKT	Consultant	jward@cob.rit.edu

Team Documents

Marketing Tool

Click here to see this projects marketing video!

Important Concepts

What is Refractive Error

Refractive error means needing glasses to see. Uncorrected refractive error is easily fixed by an eye examination and the provision of appropriate glasses. However, in many developing countries there are little or no eyecare services in place, and glasses are either too expensive or simply not available.

What Causes Blindess

The five main causes of preventable global blindness are cataract; trachoma; onchocerciasis (river blindness); childhood blindness; and refractive errors and low vision

Is Vision Impairment a big deal?

There are 37 million blind people, including 1.4 million children (under the age of 15), and 124 million with severely impaired vision, resulting in a total of over 161 million visually impaired people. [WHO, November 2004]

These figures do not include people with uncorrected refractive error.

Visual impairment due to uncorrected refractive error (<6/18 in adults and <6/12 in children) has been estimated to affect as many as 200 to 250 million people. [B. Holden, ICEE estimates, 2005]

• Vision impairment severely limits the education and employment of otherwise healthy people.
• Vision impairment directly affects all aspects of an individuals life education, health, employment, well-being, and social interaction. A person who is visually impaired has:

o Increased social isolation difficulties with daily living doubled, ease of social functioning reduced by half, religious participation reduced by half o Increased morbidity risk of falls doubled, risk of hip fractures increased 4 times, risk of depression increased 3 times o Increased mortality risk of death doubled. [Centre for Eye Research Australia 2001]

Vision impairment has a major impact on the country

• Blindness and visual impairment also has a significant economic impact on a society.

• Recent research in Australia shows that total real financial costs (direct and indirect) of visual impairment were over $5.0 billion in 2004 (over 0.6% of GDP); and the net cost of suffering and premature death due to vision loss, over and above the financial costs, is estimated to be a further $4.8 billion in 2004. [Access Economics 2004]

• The annual global GDP loss in 2000 is US$19,223 million for Blindness and US$22,764 million for Low Vision [Frick and Foster, 2003]

Current Design

Website of Current Design

Name	Webside Address	Description
INFOCUS	http://www.infocusonline.org/	InFOCUS (Interprofessional Fostering of Ophthalmic Care for Underserved Sectors) began in 1987 as an outreach project of the University of Houston College Optometry. The project produced the FOCOMETER an affordable refracting device appropriate to areas without access to professional personnel, electricity or costly equipment. This device became the centerpiece of a unique program designed to help medically underserved communities achieve self- reliance for basic vision care.
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Based on Badal optics, the FOCOMETERallows the patient to view a real, unmagnified target, and bring it into focus, with a direct reading of spherical correction on a linear diopter scale.

Measurement of cylinder for astigmatism is easily accomplished, utilizing a "clock target" supplied with the instrument.

"Add" power requirements for presbyopes can also be measured, simply by first obtaining the distance correction and then adding plus power in small increments until a target at the desired "near" distance is clear.

In extensive field testing, the FOCOMETER was found to be as accurate as other methods of subjective refraction and retinoscopy. Field test data were published in Optometry and Vision Science (April 1993).

The subject looks through the FOCOMETERand adjusts the focus until the designated target is clear. The spectacle prescription can then be read directly on a linear diopter scale on the side of the instrument.

The design eliminates the need for many pieces which could be lost or broken and may be difficult to replace.

Many clinicians in the USA and other developed countries find the FOCOMETER useful for over-refraction of contact lens wearers and for patients ordinarily difficult to refract, such as patients with keratoconus.

Related Websites

Useful Websites

Name	Webside Address	Description
Environmental Protection Agency	http://es.epa.gov/ncer/p3/index.html	The P3: People, Prosperity and the Planet website can be used as a guide to view the current and past grants and projects done by other interdisciplinary groups interested in sustainability. P3 is a competition focused on benefiting people, promoting prosperity, and protecting the planet through innovative designs to address challenges to sustainability in both the developed and developing world.
United Nations Millennium Goals	http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/gti.htm#goal6	The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world's time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions-income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion-while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability. They are also basic human rights-the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter, and security. This website can be used as guide to the current needs of the World
Low Cost Eyeglasses	http://www.lowcosteyeglasses.net/index.html	Low Cost Eyeglasses is the first winner in the Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Business Plan Contest. After extensive research and planning, Low Cost Eyeglasses won the contest in March, 2001. The team is currently working to make a low cost product available.

Planning

Mission Statement

Staffing Requirements

Intellectual Property Considerations

Preliminary Work Breakdown Structure

Team Values and Norms

Grading and Assessment Scheme

Required Resources

Concept Development

Identify Customer Needs

Establish Target Specifications

Generate Product Concepts

Select Product Concept(s)

Test Product Concept(s)

Set Final Specifications

System Level Design

Product Architecture

Detail Design

Design for Manufacturing and Assembly

Robust Design

Design for the Environment and Sustainability

Design for Reliability

Design for Safety

Testing and Refinement

Prototyping

Published Documents

As you conclude the project, include links to all of your finished and fully polished documents here. The previous sections of the web site contain the entire design history of your project. This section contains the finished products. Add more links as needed.

Concept Design Review Documents (SD I)

Detailed Design Review Documents (SD I)

Managerial Design Review Presentation (SD I)

Technical Conference Publication (SD II)

Poster Publication (SD II)

Managerial Design Review Presentation (SD II)

Photo Gallery