Father creates prosthetic eye for his daughter

Dwayne was driven to take action because the prosthetics available weren’t good for Liberty and because he and his family had bad experiences with some doctors.

“She needed a prosthetic eye to assist with facial growth, which meant we needed to find an ocularist, someone who specializes in the crafting and fitting of prosthetic eyes. What ensued was two years of ups and downs for Liberty and eventual hopelessness for us, as the eyes Liberty got after the first year weren’t fitting properly, and caused her extreme pain”, he said.

Using YouTube, the father started learning how to create eye conformer shells, that sit over his daughter’s eye in order to give illusion that her eye is full sized.

“I couldn't handle it anymore, so I started teaching myself. It took me about three months of practice and lots of failures before I had an eye I was happy to have her wear”, he explained.
The inventor went online and bought machines, paint supplies and materials in order to make the prosthetic eye for his daughter. He also had the help of a neighbour who helped him get access to more technology for free.

The process of creating this solution takes three days. It starts by taking an impression of the eye socket, and then shapes the implant out of wax using a similar method dentists use for prosthetic teeth.

The iris is painted by hand, one stroke at a time, and the veins are crafted using a piece of silk cotton thread.
He launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for all the materials and an ocular prosthetic course he took in England.

After finishing the course, Dwayne founded his own business – Oculus Prosthetics, a prosthetic eye clinic consultancy. He runs a Pro Bono programme for two people each year.

More info: https://www.oculusprosthetics.com/

Adapted from: https://bit.ly/2KGpn6w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=pFZLMld8v90