Laser Eye Surgery Without The Laser Or The Surgery!

LASIK is a popular option for correcting many common visual impairments, and because of not using scalpels, is generally considered “surgery but not surgery”, and therefore is less likely to be rejected as a possibility by people are are (understandably) squeamish about someone cutting up their eyeballs.

However, ultimately LASIK is simply a surgical intervention that does the cutting with lasers rather than steel, cutting parts of the cornea with lasers, and as such, it still carries risks like surgical complications in the short-term, and structural weakening in the long-term.

So, what’s the latest option?

Electrochemical corneal refraction

Researchers (Dr. Michael Hill et al.) having been experimenting with electromechanical reshaping (EMR), which reshapes the cornea without cutting. Instead, a mild electric current temporarily changes corneal chemistry, making tissue malleable.

How it works: applying an electric potential alters the pH, which loosens collagen bonds, which allows reshaping, and then restores normal pH to lock the new shape in place.

Example: in the earliest trials, platinum “contact lenses” were used as electrodes on rabbit eyeballs in saline. After about a minute, the cornea conformed to the lens shape, to correct myopia. This had a 100% success rate, all cells involved survived the treatment, and EMR also showed promise in reversing corneal cloudiness (currently only treatable with transplants).

In fewer words: it uses physiological jiggerypokery to persuade your cornea to become its own built-in contact lens.

The good news is that that this means that it compares very favorably to LASIK head-to-head, as there are no incisions, fewer steps, cheaper equipment, quicker procedure, and it’s even reversible.

The bad news is not terrible, but is rather that as with many medical advances, this will still have to pass many rounds of testing before it is publicly available, with several steps to go before it even gets to human in vivo trials, let alone something one can book an appointment for.

You can read more about it at the American Chemical Society, here: Electrochemical corneal refraction

Want to learn more?

If you’d rather have something you can do right now, then we present:

10 Great Exercises to Improve Your Eyesight

…and for a deeper dive, we highly recommend the book:

Vision for Life, Revised Edition: Ten Steps To Natural Eyesight Improvement – by Dr. Meir Schneider

Take care!