Corneal Inlays and Corneal Onlays

Written by John Taylor

New Technology: Corneal Inlays

In the past, the only way to deal with bad vision was to wear glasses. With some time, doctors and scientists developed contact lens. These were great because they fit right onto the eye so that you didn't have to deal with any cumbersome glasses.

This was an amazing invention that really helped the eye industry. Then, a while later, doctors developed a kind of eye surgery, using lasers, that could permanently correct someone's vision. This is a new method that has gained a lot of popularity, and is the current favorite for people who want their vision corrected. But now, it looks like scientists are working on an even better method than laser surgery for improving vision.

This new technology is called corneal inlays or corneal onlays. These are like a cross between laser surgery and contact lenses. Essentially, the doctors cut open the cornea and place a small lens inside of it. it is like implanting a contact lens right into the eye. Although this surgery is gaining a lot of ground in the scientific community, it hasn't yet been approved as a general surgical practice. This is not because it isn't effective. On the contrary, the Food and Drug Administration, known as the FDA for short, are working to make sure that the procedure is safe. Once they approve it, they will then release it to the public.

In a way, corneal inlays are similar to laser eye surgery. The beginning of the procedure is essentially the same. In both surgeries, at least when it comes to LASIK eye surgery, the cut a circle open into the cornea of the eye. The cornea is the clear part of the outside of the eye, which is responsible for the focus with which you see. If something is wrong with the cornea, you won't be able to see as well. By opening up the front layer of the cornea, the doctors have access to an area that they can alter. By altering it, they can improve the person's eyesight.

In typical laser eye surgery, the surgeon would then take a laser to the inside layer of the cornea, shaping it so that it will produce a clear image for the patient. While that method is very good, it is now not the only method. With corneal inlay, they would instead implant a small lens. This lens is made to be the right strength in order to help the patient see perfectly. Once the lens is in place, the replace the flap, and the procedure is done.

As you can see, there isn't too much difference between LASIK eye surgery and the new corneal inlay surgery when it comes to the actual procedure. The most important difference comes with who can actually benefit from it. With LASIK surgery, doctors avoid operating on older people who continue to have a degradation of their eyesight. Now these people would be able to use the corneal inlays because it is perfect for degrading eyesight due to age, which is also called presbyopia.

Once corneal inlay eye surgery is approved, it will open doors for people who would normally be able to benefit from classic laser eye surgery. Now, those that are sick to death of their annoying and cumbersome glasses can finally have their eyesight improved without any of those aides. If you are thinking about going through with eye correction surgery, you may want to wait until this new technology is on the market. Then you have a better choice of which way you should go with this procedure and which one is right for you.