I thought I’d start the week with a feel-good story.
In August, a man from Montana who has been classed as almost legally blind since childhood underwent surgery to have implantable contact lenses placed into his eyes. He now has almost 20/20 vision in each eye.
Casey Lang, from Missoula, Montana was the first person in the town to undergo this surgery. Four more people have had the surgery since he had it.
What are Implantable Contact Lenses?
Implantable Contact Lenses or as they are also known, phakic ICLs, are contact lenses that are surgically implanted into the eyes to correct vision. They are used when standard Lasik or Lasek Eye Surgery wouldn’t work.
I know in the past I’ve talked about self-focussing lenses, but they have yet to be developed, whilst this is an amazing and real piece of technology that is already being used to change lives.
How Do They Work?
The ICLs are made from a material called Collamer which is compatible with the structure of the eye, so there is no risk of rejection or complications.
If your optician thinks you are a suitable candidate for ICL surgery, they will take accurate measurements of your eyes and have a specially made lens constructed for you.
Most cases of ICL surgery are for myopia as people who are short-sighted have slightly larger eyes than long-sighted people. Whilst ICL can be carried out on long-sighted people, it all depends on the size of their eyes. There needs to be enough room in the eye to comfortably accommodate the lens.
During surgery, which is carried out under local anaesthetic, a small incision is made either into the iris or into the cornea and the lens is inserted. If the incision is made in the cornea, it is normally so small that it is self-healing – no stitches are needed.
The main advantage of these ICLs is that your eye continues to function normally, i.e. it continues to use its own natural lens for close up work and only uses the added ICL when it needs to focus on things far away. However, this means that the eyes must still be capable of doing self-focussing. For this reason, ICL surgery is only suitable for people aged between 21 and 50.
If this is you, this might be something worth considering.
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