After careful screening and an informed consent discussion outlining treatment alternatives and potential complications, the eye surgeon places two minute plastic rings directly into the peripheral or outer cornea. The interior of the eye is not entered, the central visual axis is not disturbed, and no tissue is removed. These rings flatten the central cornea while maintaining the natural curvature, thus correcting the patient's myopia. The perfected operation can be completed by an experienced ophthalmologist using only local topical eye drop anesthesia. The eye is held effortlessly open with a fine wire lid speculum, and the entire process observed by the surgeon through a precision operating microscope.
Healing is rapid, and full visual recovery generally occurs within only a few days to weeks.
Remarkably, the rings can be removed or replaced if necessary without altering the original shape of the cornea. Patient and physician acceptance of this new technology has been extremely enthusiastic. Some patients with extreme forms of nearsightedness or farsightedness cannot be promised highly accurate results with the standard laser refractive surgical procedures currently available. Surgeons have turned to promising experimental applications of existing cataract surgery technology for these visually compromised patients. IOLs, or intra-ocular lenses, have been used for decades to replace the cloudy cataract most commonly seen in our senior citizens.