Optics: eye examining – vision testing and correcting – Spectacles and eyeglasses – Continuous rim mounting
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-22
2001-04-03
Manuel, George (Department: 3737)
Optics: eye examining, vision testing and correcting
Spectacles and eyeglasses
Continuous rim mounting
Reexamination Certificate
active
06210000
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of medical devices. More specifically, the invention relates to an apparatus, system, and method for preventing Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) that uses a variety of components, each aimed at addressing the causes of CVS.
2. Related Art
Computers have become indispensable tools of the workplace and popular devices for work and entertainment in the home. Accordingly, millions of people, in the United States alone, spend much of their day working on or otherwise using a computer. The time spent at the computer may extend up to eight hours or, depending upon the user's professional demands, much longer in a single, continuous stretch of time. In 1992, approximately 10 million people sought treatment for vision problems associated with looking at a display monitor of a computer for extended periods of time. A more recent survey suggested that, of the approximately 70 million Americans working at computers and looking at the computer display monitors for extended periods, eighty-eight percent experience some form of ocular complaints.
The ocular complaints experienced by the computer users typically include intermittent blurring of vision, eye strain, eye fatigue, burning sensations, irritation, and dry eyes, among others. The most common of the ocular complaints include ocular fatigue and irritation which are major symptoms of dry eyes. Usually, the symptoms occur after the computer user begins using the computer and looking at the display monitor and the symptoms progressively worsen becoming more intense the harder and longer the person uses the computer. The condition of a person experiencing one or more of the ocular complaints as a result of operating a computer and looking at a computer monitor is generally referred to as “Computer Vision Syndrome” (CVS). CVS not only causes pain and discomfort to the individual, but also reduces overall efficiency by reducing the time that a person can effectively work and concentrate while using a computer. Thus, CVS represents a drain on productivity and serves to increase medical expenses associated with treating the ocular complaints.
In general, the ocular complaints associated with CVS typically relate to some refractive error and/or shortcomings of the environment that ultimately relates back to some instability of the ocular surface (i.e. the ocular surface epithelial cells and the preocular tear film). Many people have eye disorders that do not allow them to properly focus. Further, upon reaching about age forty, the muscles that control a person's ability to focus, or accommodate, are ordinarily unable to properly adjust the eye to allow accurate viewing of a computer display monitor. Thus, the strain placed on these muscles causes fatigue that leads to an eventual inability to properly focus and to intermittent blurring.
Normally, when the eye is open, the stability of the tear film is affected by the size of the exposed area of the ocular surface and the time that the ocular surface is exposed to the environment between blinks. Regardless of whether the tear film component is normal, eyelid blinking is essential to achieve adequate tear spread onto the entire ocular surface and, thus, to form a stable preocular tear film. The size and area of exposure of the ocular surface as well as the environment determine the extent of tear evaporation. Therefore, complete and frequent eyelid blinking is necessary to minimize the ocular surface exposure and the eyelid fissure and to provide adequate spreading of the preocular tear film.
However, when a person is in an attentive and concentrated state, the exposed ocular surface area during interblink intervals is enlarged and the blink rate is reduced. A person typically enters this attentive and concentrated state when, for example, working at a computer and looking at a display monitor, reading, driving, watching television, and looking through a microscope. Thus, the natural attentive and concentrated effort of the person using a computer tends to produce ocular fatigue.
One recent effort aimed at treating the symptoms of CVS simply uses eye drops to provide a better preocular tear film and reduce the associated ocular complaints. While somewhat effective at performing the function for which the eye drops are intended, the effort does not provide a solution that addresses the causes of CVS and does not provide a solution that helps a computer user avoid CVS altogether.
Thus, despite the use of the prior art features, there remains a need for an apparatus, system, and method that helps a computer user avoid CVS and that uses a variety of components, each aimed at addressing the causes of CVS.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To achieve such improvements, the present invention provides an apparatus, system, and method to help a computer user avoid Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). In general, the invention provides a set of individual components which may be used individually or in combination and each of which is designed to address the various causes of CVS. Included among the components are devices directed at maintaining the a proper preocular tear film and avoiding damage to the epithelial cells. The components include devices and methods for ensuring an adequate blink rate to provide an adequate spread of the preocular tear film and for controlling the environmental conditions about the eye, such as the humidity, to optimize the eye environment. Other components provide for magnification to aid eye accommodation, filtering of the air in the eye environment, adapting the air moisture content to the needs of the individual computer user, and monitoring and adjusting the temperature and/or humidity of the eye environment.
In one aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for preventing computer vision syndrome in a computer user viewing a display monitor of a computer that comprises means for generating a blink reminder signal and means for indicating a blink reminder to the computer user in response to the blink reminder signal. The means for generating a blink reminder signal generally comprises the computer used by the computer user or a separate control member. The frequency of blink reminders may be a set predetermined time interval which may be, for example, about sixteen to twenty blinks per minute or a varying time interval. To better achieve an appropriate blink rate, the present invention preferably includes means for monitoring the computer user's blinks. The blink monitor is preferably an infrared detector or a light source (e.g. photodiode) for reflecting light off the computer user's eye and a light sensor (e.g. phototransistor) for detecting the reflected light. In one embodiment, the light source is the computer display monitor. In this embodiment, the phototransistor may be mounted on top of the display monitor so that the computer user does not have to wear any hardware. The information gained by monitoring the computer user's blinks is then used by the signal generator to adjust the blink reminder signal as needed to provide an appropriate blink rate. Thus, the blink monitor is in communication with and adapted to provide feedback to the signal generator and the signal generator is adapted to adjust the blink reminder signal according to the computer user's blink rate in response to the feedback provided by the blink monitor.
The blink indicator may be a speaker adapted to produce an audible blink reminder which may be a simple beep, a tone, an audible voice, or virtually any other sound, such as a song. Alternatively, the blink reminder may comprise a visible indicator adapted to produce a visual blink reminder. Examples of visible indicators include a light or at least a portion of the display monitor of the computer. The visual blink reminder may be a conscience message or a subliminal message generated on the display monitor. Another type of blink indicator is an electro-stimulus member adapted to produce an electro-stimulus blink reminder that
Baker & Botts L.L.P.
Manuel George
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