JUPITER, Fla.—The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a second patent to Myolite, Inc., a Florida-based company that aims to reduce the incidence of myopia and regulate the progression of myopia through the use of protective lighting systems. The patent, titled “Electromagnetic Radiation Refractive Therapy,” was issued to Myolite founder Jerome A. Legerton, an inventor and vision scientist. It claims that the intracellular signal transduction networks that regulate eye growth can be regulated by light sources when such light sources are controlled to deliver the proper chromaticity, amount, direction and duration of light.

The two most recent Myolite patents describe the concept of electromagnetic radiation refractive therapy and describe how specific light sources with emission in the visible spectrum can be placed in spectacle lenses, contact lenses and spectacle frames. A third pending patent pertains to a protective lighting system primarily intended for classroom use to mitigate the decrease in time spent outdoors by a significant number of young school-age children.

According to the journal Ophthalmology, in 2000, an estimated 1.4 billion people, or 23 percent of the total world population, had myopia. Researchers further predict that the prevalence will soar to 4.8 billion, afflicting nearly half of the population by 2050. These projected increases are driven principally by lifestyle changes, including decreased time outdoors and increased near work activities.

“When you consider the effects of soaring myopia, particularly among school-age children, it becomes quite obvious that lighting systems that directly address lifestyle-induced deficits have the potential to be particularly effective,” said Dr. Legerton. “To that end, Myolite anticipates that the use of electromagnetic radiation refractive therapy, as described in the patents, will complement refractive error regulation by pharmaceutical intervention and peripheral defocus by way of corneal refractive therapy and multifocal contact lenses.”

In addition to Dr. Legerton, other key members of the Myolite team include Glenn Moro, former global head of marketing, innovation and myopia control for Alcon Vision Care, and British-trained optometrist and vision scientist, Mark Bullimore, PhD, who was recently appointed as executive director of the World Council of Optometry.