Pneumatically actuated adaptive lenses with millisecond response time

We describe the design and operation of two pneumatically actuated adaptive lenses with refractive power adjustable by >4 diopters. The refractive element in the lenses is a transparent flexible membrane. When vacuum is applied, the membrane is deformed and becomes a diverging meniscus lens. The two lenses have membranes with 18 and 12mm diameters and 5 and 2ms transition times after sudden changes in pressure. Both lenses can be driven at 500Hz with 4 diopter variation in the refractive power. The adaptive lenses can be used for longitudinal scanning in three-dimensional imaging and for fast focusing.