LASIK and Eye Surgery Blog - Clearview Eye and Laser Medical Center

Monday, February 18, 2008

Canada Using New Presbyopia Treatment

PresbyLASIK, also called multifocal LASIK, is not yet approved by the U.S. FDA, but it is apparently bringing great results in Canada. The idea is similar to that used by ReZoom™ and ReSTOR®, two of the intraocular lenses (IOLs) used to treat both cataracts and presbyopia in the U.S. In an IOL procedure, the natural lens is removed and an artificial lens replaces it.

A ReZoom or ReSTOR lens has concentric circles built into it, each a different refractive zone. Refraction is the bending of light rays. If light entering your eyes is to focus on the retina and give you clear images, it must be bent, refracted, at the right angles. The ReZoom lens has a central area designed to give clear distance vision, and four concentric rings around it, each designed to give clear vision at closer and closer distances.

PresbyLASIK is founded on the same principle, except that those concentric circles are created right on the cornea. The central cornea is steepened for clear near vision and the rest of the cornea is slightly altered in concentric zones for clear vision at intermediate and far distances.

So far, hyperopic eyes seem to do better with it than myopic eyes, according to Dr. Jackson, professor and chairman of ophthalmology, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They have not yet tried it with normal eyes, that is, with people who have 20/20 eyes but have developed presbyopia.

In the U.S., PresbyLASIK is being done in trials only. Several ways of doing it are being tested to see which is more effective for myopic eyes and which is more effective for hyperopic eyes.

Our FDA does not rush into things. If you are developing presbyopia and would like to learn more about how it can be treated right now in the U.S., please contact us for a consultation with Dr. Feldman.

posted by JennyK at 10:46 AM

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San Diego LASIK Center

Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S. :: ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
6255 Lusk Blvd., Suite 100 :: San Diego, California 92121

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