Seen At 11: New Procedure Could Turn The Clock Back On Your Eyes
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - For most people, the need for reading glasses is as inevitable as gray hair and wrinkles. But now, a new procedure could have millions of people putting those readers down for good.
"If you really stop and think about it, they are a real nuisance," Valerie Martel said of her reading glasses. "I had one by the computer at work, and one at home, and I like gourmet cooking, so, I had one in the kitchen. So I must have had 10 or 15 pairs."
But those days are over for Martel. She no longer needs her readers because she underwent a new, experimental procedure called the "Raindrop Near Vision Inlay."
"The way the Raindrop cornea inlay works is by causing a slight change in the shape of the cornea, which allows light to be focused better for reading," ophthalmologist Dr. Ralph Chu said.
Dr. Chu says, like the popular Lasik surgery which corrects nearsightedness as well as farsightedness, the Raindrop procedure requires creating an opening in the cornea.
Doctors then place a tiny contact lens just 2 millimeters in diameter inside.
As CBS2 reported, this implant helps bring into focus small print like that in a newspaper or on a menu.
"We're very optimistic," Dr. Chu said.
Dr. Chu says the procedure could one day make reading glasses obsolete.
Martel is one of the first patients to have the procedure as part of the clinical trials.
"I'm free! I can read," Martel said.
But while the results may seem remarkable, the Raindrop is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Some doctors warn even if it is, there may be some risks involved.
"The cornea has to be split open. A little lens is put in. Our concerns are one, will they move or migrate? Will they affect the corneal health?" ophthalmologist Dr. Neal Sher said.
Doctors say the procedure is at least two years away from approval.
Martel says she hopes it will help others lose their readers for good too.
"I don't have to be looking for glasses, you know, and it's helped in my job. It's helped in my just being able to do whatever I want to do," she said.
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