Contact Lens Implants
Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 8:54 pm
Anyone here has gone for this? Can share your experience?
I heard of another which is more like what they do for cataract patients, ie, the lens replacement.
Check out three treatments which are now available in S'pore to correct myopia as well as help those who are colour blind. -ST
Sat, Dec 12, 2009
Mind Your Body, The Straits Times
Here are three treatments now available in Singapore to correct myopia as well as help those who are colour blind. One is a "contact lens" implant, another uses a "no touch" laser procedure, and a third - contact lenses for the colour blind - may even help the dyslexic.
#1: Phakic intraocular lens
#2: "No Touch" Epi-Lasik procedure
#3: ChromaGen lens
Phakic intraocular lens
Treatment for: Myopia
Cost: About $3,200 per eye
This works like a contact lens but is implanted in the eye and is fuss free as it does not require removal of the lens or the use of contact lens solutions, said Dr Julian Theng, an ophthalmologist and medical director of the Eagle Eye Centre at Mount Alvernia Hospital.
This lens, inserted between the cornea and the iris in a five-minute outpatient procedure, is used for the correction of moderate to very high myopia, from 600 to 1,600 degrees.
Said Dr Theng: "The outcomes have been amazing. Of our 34 patients, all of them achieved 6/9 vision or better and 83 per cent attained perfect vision. These patients had an average myopia of about 1,200 degrees."
He added: "This lens is very easy to implant and takes less than five minutes. Because it is an additive procedure, where something is placed in the eye, it is easily reversible."
The first implant here - and in Asia - was done by Dr Theng in December last year. The procedure is available to patients with stable myopia who are 18 years and above.
This means that the person's myopia is unlikely to increase further in future. "Younger teens tend to have unstable myopia. That is why this is normally for those who are 18 and older although a small percentage of them may still have unstable myopia," said Dr Theng.
"But when you are in your 20s or 30s, myopia usually does not increase." The procedure is also ideal for people who are unsuitable for Lasik - a procedure to reshape the cornea - such as those with too thin corneas or those who have suffered from a disease of the cornea.
Assessing a patient's suitability for the treatment includes checking the depth and space within the eye to ensure that there is sufficient space for the insertion of the lens.
The side effects are minimal even for patients with very high degrees. The lens is made of a soft material that is designed specially for the eye, making it safe.
This is the same material used to make cataract implanted lenses which have been around for more than 40 years.
This procedure is now available at other eye centres too.