Dr Ehsan Vaghefi

Dr Ehsan Vaghefi has been awarded a Health Research Council (HRC) Explorer grant of $150,000 for his work on Optical Laser Biometry (OLB). This technology, developed at the School of Optometry and Vision Science (SOVS), combines two laser-based imaging techniques with a platform for visualising the resulting data. It represents a new cost-effective means of analysing the structure of the human eye and will enable affordable vision care delivery to remote or lower socio-economic communities.

Dr Vaghefi told NZ Optics he was overjoyed about the news. “When I received the results for the HRC Explorer, I was absolutely delighted. David Squirrell, Diana Siew and I put a lot of time and effort into this application and we also got feedback from multiple colleagues at SOVS, as well as the Auckland Bioengineering Institute. We managed to put together a very good application. But then again, I am biased!”

Dr Vaghefi says the grant is essential for the continuation of the research project and the timing couldn’t have been better as it will help fund post-doctoral fellow Dr Mabelle Lin and enable the team to buy some critical equipment for their next experiments.

OLB is currently going through the patenting process. The team is also looking to form a start-up company under the MedTech CoRE umbrella. Dr Vaghefi says he’s hopeful they will be joining New Zealand’s small but active ophthalmic medical device development community soon.