Monday, December 07, 2015

Connecticut's Celebrity Dermatologist Turns To Laser-Blocking Eyewear For Pilots

Dr. Nicholas Perricone, founder of PerriQuest Defense Research Enterprises, has made millions from his cosmetics, books and TV appearances. He has branched out into security devices, and his newest project is glasses designed to be worn by pilots so they will not be "dazzled" or blinded by an increasing number of laser attacks on airplanes.



After making a fortune with PerriconeMD, a high-priced cosmetics line that promises to defy aging, and surviving news blasts about his personal life, Dr. Nicholas V. Perricone has a new project: eyewear to protect pilots from laser attacks.

That's quite a jump for a nationally known dermatologist who's written best-selling books and appeared on TV specials about skin care and nutrition.

"They love the look: Tom Cruise in 'Top Gun,' " Perricone said, describing the feather-light wraparound glasses with titanium frames that can be made with prescription lenses. "We're the only ones who can do this. It's affordable and readily accessible."

Laser attacks are growing as an issue in aviation. Although laser pointers have been around for years, as a toy to tease a cat, in a PowerPoint lecture, as a light saber, or as a tool for astronomers, people are using them to shoot at airplanes — as a dangerous and criminal prank.

Lasers can disorient or harm pilots as far away as five miles. Even the less powerful pointers, some costing as little as $5, have a range of up to a mile and can disrupt the vision of a pilot or cause damage to the retina.

And there have been thousands of reported incidents of lasers pointed at aircraft — well over 5,000 this year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Among them: An ABC News helicopter, which prompted the network to interview Perricone about the glasses.

"Lasers distract pilots from their safety duties and can lead to temporary blindness during critical phases of flight, such as takeoff and landing," the FAA said in a written statement. "In some cases in the past, pilots have reported eye injuries that required medical treatment."

For Perricone, who lives in Madison and has his office in Meriden, the transition to laser-protective glasses grew out of his interest in defense and security issues. Three years ago, he was at a conference with some government and corporate officials who knew of a patent he'd received for protection against handheld rockets. They asked if he might be able to develop something to protect commercial pilots from laser assaults.

"I began thinking about the vulnerability of America," Perricone said.

"I think this is my baby," he told investors. He assembled a team of scientists who were experts in optics to research the issue.

The work was undertaken by PerriQuest Defense Research Enterprises LLC, a company Perricone started in 2003 in Meriden to develop defense-related projects, motivated by the 9/11 attacks.

Existing glasses, he said, block only green light but lasers can also use red or blue light and Perricone wanted something to block all three colors as well as retain color differentiation.

By the spring of this year, Perricone's team had developed the glasses. The daytime lenses have a reflective coating, while the night-time lenses are clear. Each pair will cost about $400 once they are in production.

"This is the only technique that addresses all the issues," he said.

Optics experts devised the coatings for the lenses, which are made in Iowa by Zeiss. The titanium frames are made in China, and the coatings are applied in New Hampshire. Currently, there are several hundred pairs of glasses ready for sale, but production can be quickly ramped up when necessary.

Three months ago, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who sits on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology, visited PerriQuest, and Perricone said he would like Blumenthal to write the FAA "saying they needed to get moving." Perricone has also been in contact with pilots unions and air carriers to sell them on the glasses.

"We are waiting for orders," he said.

Planes flying as high as 10,000 feet can be hit with low-level lasers, and the FAA, the FBI and the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates radiation-emitting devices, were becoming increasingly disturbed by the rapidly rising number of laser attacks on airplanes

The FAA counted 5,352 laser incidents through Oct. 16 this year, compared to 3,894 for all of 2014. At Bradley International Airport, there have been at least nine attacks this year.

"You can't land an airplane if you have 'dazzle' [in your eyes] and you can get retinal burns that end your career," Perricone said.

All the pilots who have been struck by laser beams have been able to land their planes safely, but, as Perricone warns: "It's just a matter of time. ... No plane has gone down, but the incidents are increasing every day. ... My chief concern is an accident."

A 2012 federal law imposes a fine or a sentence of up to five years for anyone caught targeting an airplane with a laser, but catching perpetrators is difficult — thus, Perricone's emphasis on protecting the pilots.

Perricone, 67, traces his interest in science to his childhood when he would do science experiments in his New Haven basement with his father, a stonemason. He majored in English literature at the University of New Haven, and after graduating in 1970, he worked for several years before he decided to become a doctor.

He took science courses at night, and eventually enrolled in Michigan State's medical school, the College of Human Medicine, graduating in 1982. He spent a year in a pediatrics internship at Yale before a friendship with a pediatric dermatologist prompted a change to dermatology.

In 1997, he founded PerriconeMD to sell the cosmetics he had developed in a lab, bringing science and the imprimatur of his medical degree to the products, now sold all over the world. The products are made in Bloomington, Ill.; his Meriden corporate headquarters has 60 employees.

Most of his creams and lotions sell for over $100. Two ounces of a "neuropeptide facial conforming cream" costs $495. On QVC, a 2-ounce bottle of facial conformer is $595.

The cosmetic products, his eight television specials and his seven best-selling books on nutrition, diet and cosmetics, have brought him wealth, and he said he will continue to develop new skin products, despite his current interest in security.

In person, Perricone is soft-spoken and personable. His skin is tanned, his hair lightly gelled, and his face shows few hints of aging. He wears stylishly tailored suits, gold cuff links, and a tie a few shades darker than his crisp blue shirt. His enormous office is flooded with light, a picture of the pope, and many diplomas and citations. The hall and anteroom are decorated with framed copies of many of his 161 patents.

A cadre of employees runs interference for Perricone: he has two public relations firms, one in Manhattan, the other in Boston, to burnish his image. He travels with bodyguards to cosmetics shows where thousands of women want to paw him and show him how much they have "improved" using his products.

Perricone is divorced — the 2005 case was covered by tabloid newspapers — with a teenage daughter.

He gives to both major political parties (nearly $18,000 this year) but the bulk of his donations go to Democrats (although Rand Paul received $1,000 this year.) He has used part of his wealth to benefit his alma mater, pledging $5 million to Michigan State College of Human Medicine and $1.2 million to build a community center in a poor area near Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Today, Perricone prefers to concentrate on his latest business venture. He conjures up a doomsday scenario: a lawsuit after a plane has been downed by a laser and the president of the airline is in court defending his decision not to buy protective eyewear for his pilots. There would be no adequate legal defense, Perricone said.

"This is the only real solution," he said. "But in the meantime, it's 16 strikes a day."

Source:    http://www.courant.com

Laser-filtering glasses created by Dr. Nicholas Perricone, founder of PerriQuest Defense Research Enterprises. Perricone has made millions from his cosmetics, books and TV appearances.

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