Intracorneal ring: A good alternative to LASIK?
I have been developing a new technology for the surgical treatment of myopia for some years now and I presented the results with my first set of patients at this year's ASCRS congress in San Diego, USA. Overall, I believe that this new, minimally invasive method of surgery could present a feasible alternative to invasive LASIK and intraocular surgery in moderate to high myopes.
The procedure itself is reversible, pain-free and quick and easy to perform, taking only a few minutes to complete. From the point of invasiveness of the procedure we place our technology somewhere between "classical" refractive surgery and contact lenses.
How easy is it?
The PocketMaker microkeratome is temporarily fixed to the eye via a suction ring and a micron-guided diamond blade creates an intrastromal pocket via a 3 mm incision tunnel. With the exception of the small incision tunnel, the intrastromal pocket is closed along the entire circumference.
Once the pocket is created, the PocketMaker is removed from the eye and the MyoRing is introduced into the pocket via the small incision tunnel. The corneal pocket is 300 μm in depth and it has a diameter of some 9 mm.
First patient results indicate so far so good
The patient is very satisfied with the outcome and has not reported any problems with his vision during the day or night. A particular advantage is that, not only has the patient's high spherical component vanished with this treatment, but so too has the significant cylindrical value. To the best of my knowledge, there is currently no other technology available, which allows the surgical treatment of such difficult refractive errors to be so simple. Although such high degrees of myopia can be treated with this device, CISIS can also be used for the treatment of all degrees of myopia, ranging from -1 to -20 D.
