by Joel Harrison
30. October 2010 10:57
Even though progress in the area of contact lenses is extremely fast, there are still some patients that cannot use them. In the case of patients with high hyperopia, the problem cannot be really solved by laser surgery, either. Until recently, therefore, such patients had to wear thick glasses all their lives.
Now, however, there is a new viable option for them: implantable contact lenses. As Dr Goran Helgason, consultant eye surgeon at Advanced Vision Care in London, explains, miniature contact lenses are placed inside the eye, behind the iris and in front of the eye’s own lens. All the lenses are custom-made to suit each patient’s needs.
Only a small, 3mm incision is made during the surgery, which takes around 10 minutes. The patient recovers very quickly and may go to work or drive a car within a day. The cost of the operation is still quite high (over £3k per eye), but it should decrease as the popularity of the procedure rises.
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