Patent Description:
A center part of an eyeball, which has a circular shape and looks black or brown in Asian or blue in caucasian, is called an apple of the eye or simply eye, and is also referred to as a region commonly including the iris and pupil. In the present invention, eye means this central part of eyeball which has color according to the color of iris. Eye enlargement means making this center part, eye, look bigger by inserting eye enlargement implant around cornea.

The pupil is an open part at a center of the iris (diaphragm). Light, which has passed through a cornea, passes sequentially through the pupil and through a crystalline lens, and then is refracted to reach a retina. Due to relaxation and contraction actions of muscles in the iris, the pupil shrinks in a light place and is enlarged in a dark place. As a result, light is regulated so as to enter the retina in an appropriate amount. However, if a brain, especially a midbrain is injured because of severe stroke, head injury, or cancer etc, such a regulation ability is deteriorated or disappeared.

For this reason, when a patient is unconscious, neurology / neurosurgery / emergency medicine doctors and nurses always look at the patient's pupils with pen light.

With regard to the original pupil, which is composed of the empty space, all people on the earth have the same color, which is black. In contrast, the iris varies depending on races, which is one characteristic point in terms of distinguishing races from each other.

Actual color of the pupil is transparent, but the pupil looks black since the retina hardly reflects light entering the eyeball. However, in a case in which intense light is shot at the pupil directly and instantaneously, the pupil looks red since the red color of the inner wall of the eyeball becomes visible through the pupil (looks red because blood vessels pass through the wall), which is the cause of the red eye effect when a flash is lit up.

The color of the iris is different for each person, especially, for each race, and is largely divided into blue, brown, and dark brown. The iris is the colored part that has a melanin pigment, representing the color of the eye. The color of the eye is determined according to an amount and distribution of the melanin pigment. When the amount of melanin pigment is small, the iris looks blue, when the amount is large, the iris looks brown, when the pigment is deficient, the eye looks red, which is the color of the blood vessel, and when the amount of the melanin pigment is large, the eye looks dark brown.

Since the color around the eye that lies at the center of the eye (black, in a case of Asian) is usually white (the part is usually referred to as 'white' or sclera), the distinctive contrast of colors reveals the size of the eye noticeably, and the crisp, big eyes are the target of envy as a measure of women's beauty.

For this reason, recently, circle lenses have been widely worn to make the eye look crisper and bigger.

Circle lenses are one type of color lenses, and mainly have a black color put on edges thereof for beauty, thereby making the eye look bigger when the lenses are worn on. However, the circle lenses have a relatively large thickness due to the pigment, which leads to low oxygen permeability, and the resulting lowered supply of oxygen may be one cause of eye inflammation. The inflammation may cause vision loss or some other side effects, for example, a side effect that the eye looks smaller by blurring a boundary between the white and the dark eye.

As described above, the circle lenses with color put on the edges thereof so as to make the eye look bigger are mainly used for cosmetic purpose, rather than for vision correction. However, if the circle lenses are used indiscriminately without the doctor's prescription, the lenses may cause eye diseases. In addition, cosmetic contact lenses have some disadvantages such as a relatively lower oxygen permeability due to a coloring agent that blocks fine holes in a lens surface, than the ordinary contact lenses for vision correction. Further, the lens has a rough and irregular surface, thus to give a stimulus to the eyes and increase contact area and frequency between the bacteria and the lenses, thereby resulting in a good environment for the bacteria to reproduce. Therefore, when the circle lenses are put on the eyes for beauty for a long time, side effects such as neovascularization, keratitis, corneal ulceration, corneal edema, and the like may occur.

Among them, neovascularization may have an effect of making the eyes look rather smaller. This is because, when wearing the cosmetic circle lenses for a long time, the lowered oxygen permeability may cause hypoxia in the cornea. Thereby, neovascularization may occur on the edge of the cornea and may spread up to the vicinity of the cornea so that the edge of the cornea looks whitish and cloudy, which may make the eye look smaller. Therefore, there is a situation that desperately needs an alternative to the circle lenses, which is capable of accomplishing the cosmetic purpose without harming the health of the eye.

In consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an eye enlargement implant for beauty of eyes capable of being inserted into the sub-conjunctival space around cornea so as to make the eye look crisper and bigger to maximize the cosmetic effect, and being removed when it is not necessary, without causing eye inflammation and without having to be replaced.

<CIT> and <CIT> disclose intrastromal corneal ring segments which are introduced into the cornea of an eye for medical purposes.

<CIT> describes an intrastromal insert, already preformed, of solid, transparent, impermeable, biocompatible, physiologically inert and chemically resistant material. The insert has notches allowing the passage of metabolites, substances, cells or portions thereof, and drugs. Furthermore, the insert is configured to receive printing, which is adapted in the space of the corneal stroma to change the eye color and/or to solve the problem of insufficient pigmentation of the iris.

Surgical procedures of performing a cosmetic procedure are described using the eye enlargement implant capable of safely inserting the eye enlargement implant for beauty of the eyes.

Further, an insertion instrument for the eye enlargement implant into the eye is described, which is capable of accurately and safely inserting the eye enlargement implant for beauty of the eyes into the eye, and an insertion space securement instrument, which is capable of securing the insertion space for the insertion instrument in advance.

In accordance with the invention is an eye enlargement implant provided in claim <NUM>. In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system according to claim <NUM>. Advantageous embodiments are specified in the dependent claims.

As an example, that may, if applicable, provide details to further specify embodiments claimed or described in this application, there is provided an eye enlargement implant for beauty of eyes, including a ring-shaped body which is inserted between a sclera and a conjunctiva of an eyeball, wherein the ring-shaped body has an inner diameter portion having at least a size enough to surround an outer periphery of a cornea, and an outer diameter portion having a width size of <NUM>. <NUM> to <NUM>. <NUM> so as to cover a white portion with a predetermined width and having a maximum thickness of <NUM>. <NUM> to <NUM>. <NUM> at a center portion in a cross section taken in a width direction thereof, the ring-shaped body is made of a material having flexibility and the same color as that of the iris, and has a cut part for facilitating insertion into the sub-conjunctival space, and both end portions of the ring-shaped body around the cut part are adhered or sewn with each other after insertion into the eyeball. In addition, the ring-shaped body may be made by including at least one material selected from a silicone derivative, polyamide, polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate (PHEMA), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polyvinylidene difluoride, methyl methacrylate-acrylic acid polymer (RPG), cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).

According to a first aspect of that example, the ring-shaped body may have a hooking hole formed in one end portion thereof based on the cut part whose both end portions are adhered or sewn with each other, into which a hook is inserted and locked so as to pull and move the ring-shaped body.

According to another aspect of that example, at least one end portion of the ring-shaped body may extend so as to overlap with the other end portion thereof based on the cut part, an extra overlapping portion may be cut after insertion into the eyeball in a ring shape, and both end portions of the ring-shaped body may be adhered and sewn with each other.

According to another example that may, if applicable, provide details to further specify embodiments claimed or described in this application, there is provided an insertion space securement instrument of the eye enlargement implant into the eye, wherein the securement instrument is made of a metal alloy material, a plastic material or a silicone material for a surgical instrument, and the securement instrument includes: a semicircular ring-shaped instrument which is inserted through an incised portion formed in a conjunctiva and secures an insertion space between the conjunctive and a sclera of the eyeball in advance so as to insert the eye enlargement implant; and a grip formed at one end portion of the semicircular ring-shaped instrument, wherein the insertion space securement instrument has a body formed in a question mark shape as a whole, and the body has a cross section of an elliptical shape.

In addition, according to another example that may, if applicable, provide details to further specify embodiments claimed or described in this application, there is provided an insertion instrument for inserting the eye enlargement implant according to the present invention into an eyeball, wherein the insertion instrument is made of a metal alloy material, a plastic material or a silicone material for a surgical instrument, and is inserted into the eyeball in one direction thereof through an incised portion formed in a conjunctiva, the insertion instrument includes: a semicircular insertion instrument body which is inserted along a gap formed between the conjunctiva and a sclera so as to surround an outer periphery of a cornea; a U-shaped hook which is opened toward an outer end so as to be locked to an edge portion of a hooking hole formed in one end portion of the eye enlargement implant at a tip portion of the semicircular insertion instrument body; and a grip formed at the other end portion of the insertion instrument body facing the hook, and the insertion instrument is configured to lock the hook to the edge portion of the hooking hole of the eye enlargement implant to push the eye enlargement implant in one direction through the incised portion, and when the tip portion of the eye enlargement implant reaches a side opposite to the incised portion, to retract and collect the hook with the eye enlargement implant being left.

Further, according to another example that may, if applicable, provide details to further specify embodiments claimed or described in this application, there is provided an insertion instrument for inserting the eye enlargement implant according to the present invention into an eyeball, wherein the insertion instrument is made of a metal alloy material, a plastic material or a silicone material for a surgical instrument, and is used to pull out the eye enlargement implant inserted into the eyeball in one direction thereof through an incised portion formed in a conjunctiva toward the other direction, the insertion instrument includes: a semicircular pulling-out instrument body which is inserted along a gap formed between the conjunctiva and a sclera so as to surround an outer periphery of a cornea; a U-shaped hook which is opened toward an inner end so as to be locked to an edge portion of a hooking hole of the eye enlargement implant at a tip portion of the semicircular pulling-out instrument body; and a grip formed at the other end portion of the pulling out section body facing the hook, and the insertion instrument is configured to insert the hook through the incised portion in a direction opposite to a direction in which the eye enlargement implant inserted in the eyeball enters, lock the hook to the edge portion of the hooking hole formed in the tip portion of the eye enlargement implant, and pull out the hook toward the incised portion.

Furthermore, according to another example that may, if applicable, provide details to further specify embodiments claimed or described in this application, there is provided a method of performing a cosmetic procedure using the eye enlargement implant according to present invention including: incising a conjunctiva so as to have a predetermined width in a radial direction of a cornea from a position of an outer periphery of the cornea; inserting one end portion of the eye enlargement implant of which one side is cut and which has an inner diameter to surround the outer periphery of the cornea, between a sclera and the conjunctiva through the incised portion; turning the inserted end portion around the outer periphery of the cornea and then pulling out the end portion through the incised portion; suturing both end portions of the eye enlargement implant; and suturing the incised portion of the conjunctiva.

According to a preferred aspect of that example, the method may further include securing a space into which the eye enlargement implant is inserted between the conjunctive and the sclera by inserting an insertion space securement instrument through the incised portion in advance before inserting the eye enlargement implant.

According to another aspect of that example, the eye enlargement implant may be inserted so as to surround the outer periphery of the cornea by an instrument for guiding the implant into the eyeball and pulling out the implant.

According to another aspect of that example, one end portion of the eye enlargement implant may extend beyond the other end portion, a surplus portion may be cut after the pulling out, and both end portions thereof may be sutured so as to be brought into contact face to face or be partially overlapped with each other.

As described above, according to the present invention, the ring-shaped eye enlargement implant having the color similar to that of the iris is inserted between the conjunctiva and the sclera so as to surround the outer periphery of the cornea, which makes the eye look crisper and bigger, and thus enhances the cosmetic effect of the eyes. In addition, through the eye enlargement implant described above, it is possible to prevent a damage to the cornea and the conjunctiva caused by ocular drying and frictional contact with lenses, which may occur due to the lowered oxygen permeability at the time of wearing the conventional color lenses. Further, since a single procedure does not incur additional costs, using the eye enlargement implant is more economical than wearing the circle lenses which are relatively expensive as a one-time consumable. Furthermore, it is possible to remove the eye enlargement implant when it is not necessary, and there is no probability of damaging the eye by the structure that does not cover the cornea.

The invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure is thorough, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, and in some instances, proportions may have been exaggerated in order to clearly illustrate features of the embodiments. Throughout the disclosure, like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various figures and embodiments of the present invention. In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention, the publicly known functions and configurations which are judged to be able to make the purport of the present invention unnecessarily obscure will not be described.

Further, in the definition of terms, an eye refers to the part of an eyeball including an iris and pupil that looks black in Asian, and the part that looks whitish around the eye refers to white.

<FIG> illustrates a human eyeball structure. The eyeball <NUM> includes a crystalline lens <NUM> that has a transparent structure with a convex lens shape on both sides inside an eyeball and allows a thickness and a curvature to be adjusted so as to collect light as the light passes there through and cause an image to be formed on a retina, and a vitreous body <NUM> located behind the crystalline lens. The eyeball <NUM> further includes an iris <NUM> which is located in front of the crystalline lens <NUM> and adjusts an amount of light entering the eyeball by controlling a size of the pupil through contraction and relaxation of a donut-shaped membrane positioned around the pupil, a retina <NUM> which is located behind vitreous body <NUM> and allows an image to be formed thereon, a macula <NUM>, a cornea <NUM> that covers the front of the iris <NUM> so as to protect the same, a conjunctiva <NUM>, and a sclera <NUM>. In addition, the crystalline lens <NUM> and the iris <NUM> are held at a center of the anterior eyeball by zonule and ciliary body. A pupil <NUM> is located in front of the crystalline lens <NUM> and the iris <NUM>, and functions so as to receive light from an outside and transmit visual information formed on the retina to a brain through optic nerves.

As described above, the sclera <NUM> is placed on a surface of the eyeball <NUM>, and the conjunctiva <NUM> surrounds an outer side of the sclera <NUM>, such that the conjunctiva <NUM> and the cornea <NUM> forms outer walls of the eyeball <NUM>.

<FIG> is a perspective view illustrating an eye enlargement implant according to the present invention, which is denoted by reference numeral <NUM>.

The eye enlargement implant <NUM> has an inner edge portion <NUM> surrounding an outer periphery of the cornea <NUM> in a circle, a lower curved portion <NUM> and an upper curved portion <NUM>, which extends in close contact with the surface of the sclera <NUM> starting from the inner edge portion <NUM>, and an outer edge portion <NUM> having the largest diameter as illustrated in a front sectional view of <FIG>. The inner edge portion <NUM> has a diameter d1 corresponding to a size of the cornea of a human being, that is, of about <NUM> to <NUM>. The eye enlargement implant <NUM> has a maximum thickness t of <NUM>. <NUM> to <NUM>. <NUM>, preferably <NUM>. <NUM> to <NUM>. <NUM>, and more preferably <NUM>. <NUM>, and a width b of about <NUM>. <NUM> to <NUM>. The outer edge portion has a diameter d2 of about <NUM> to <NUM>, and a cross section of a ring shape formed in a nail end or crescent shape. In the drawings, the outer edge portion is illustrated with a constant thickness for the sake of convenience, but may have a cross-sectional shape whose thickness is gradually reduced toward an inner end portion and an outer end portion from the maximum thickness t at the center of a body of the eye enlargement implant.

The body of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is made of a medical material that can be safely used for medical purposes, for example, any one material selected from a silicone derivative such as silicon rubber or silicon hydrogel and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a polyamide, a polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate (PHEMA), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polyvinylidene difluoride, methyl methacrylate-acrylic acid polymer (RPG), cellulose acetate butylate (CAB), and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). In addition, the body of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is colored according to the color of the iris of an individual or the color which an individual prefers, and is colored so as to exhibit a predetermined color with a pigment having, for example, black, brown, gray, green, or blue color, or a combination of two or more of these colors (but, it is not limited to the above-described colors).

The ring-shaped eye enlargement implant <NUM> is inserted between the conjunctiva <NUM> and the sclera <NUM> to cover the white with being inserted. Therefore, when other people look at the eye, the eye looks enlarged to the outer diameter D1 of the eye enlargement implant <NUM>.

To insert the ring-shaped eye enlargement implant <NUM> between the conjunctiva <NUM> and the sclera <NUM>, it is necessary for a part of the conjunctiva <NUM> to be incised. As illustrated in <FIG>, a part of the conjunctive <NUM> surrounding the surface of the eyeball is incised along a line in a direction in which the radius of the iris <NUM> expands using a surgical instrument to form an incised portion <NUM> so as to have a predetermined width, and the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is inserted through the incised portion <NUM>. In this case, the incised portion <NUM> is incised slightly larger than the width b of the eye enlargement implant <NUM>.

The eye enlargement implant <NUM> has a cut part <NUM> (or suturing part) formed by cutting a ring-shaped body <NUM> so as to allow the eye enlargement implant <NUM> to be inserted into the eyeball through the incised portion <NUM>. Both end portions of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> are separated from each other based on the cut part <NUM> before insertion into the eyeball, and after completing insertion into the eyeball, are sutured to form the suturing part, which will be described below.

<FIG> is a view illustrating a shape of the eye enlargement implant according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention before performing a procedure, wherein one end portion <NUM> is longer in a length than the other end portion <NUM> such that both end portions of the eye enlargement implant are overlapped with each other. The eye enlargement implant has a hooking hole <NUM> formed in the vicinity of the one end portion, into which an insertion instrument and a pulling instrument to be described below is inserted by hooking and pushing so as to move a position thereof or pull.

<FIG> illustrates an insertion space securement instrument <NUM> for securing an insertion space necessary to insert the eye enlargement implant <NUM> between the conjunctiva <NUM> and the sclera <NUM> of the eyeball. The securement instrument has a question-mark shape as a whole, and includes a semicircular ring-shaped instrument <NUM>, and a grip <NUM> which is bent and extends in a direction about perpendicular to a tangential direction on one end portion side of the semicircular ring-shaped instrument <NUM>. It is preferable that the grip <NUM> is bent in an L shape so that a doctor who performs the procedure can easily hold it and do the performance. The grip has a cross section of a flat streamlined or convex lens shape as illustrated in <FIG>, and is designed so as to have a width b1 similar to the width b of the eye enlargement implant <NUM>.

The eyeball has the conjunctiva <NUM> and the sclera <NUM> in closely contact with each other under a normal condition. Therefore, in order to insert the eye enlargement implant <NUM> into the eyeball, it is necessary to secure the insertion space in advance. For this purpose, the insertion space securement instrument <NUM> is used. The insertion space securement instrument <NUM> is pushed into the eyeball in a counterclockwise (or clockwise) direction between the conjunctiva <NUM> and the sclera <NUM> starting from a tip of the semicircular ring-shaped instrument <NUM> through the incised portion <NUM> formed in the conjunctiva <NUM>. When the tip thereof enters a gap between the conjunctiva and the sclera, the tip is smoothly pushed and gradually inserted in a circular motion around the outer periphery of the cornea <NUM> using the grip <NUM>, and thus the semicircular ring-shaped instrument <NUM> stretches the conjunctive <NUM> with good stretchability, and as a result a gap is formed between the conjunctiva and the sclera <NUM>. When the space securing operation of the half of the eyeball is completed, the insertion space securement instrument <NUM> is retracted in a direction opposite to a direction in which the insertion space securement instrument <NUM> enters, and is pulled out through the incised portion. Then, other insertion space securement instrument <NUM>, which is symmetrical with the securement instrument, or the securement instrument <NUM>, which is pulled out and turned over, is inserted through the incised portion <NUM> in the direction opposite to the above-mentioned direction, that is, a clockwise (or counterclockwise) direction starting from the ring-shaped instrument <NUM>, thereby securing the remaining half of the insertion space (gap).

The above-described insertion space securement instrument <NUM> is made of a metal alloy material, a plastic material or a silicone material for a surgical instrument, and is preferably subjected to a round process on the tip portion thereof so as not to be angled, thus to prevent an injure during the insertion.

<FIG> and <FIG> are a front view and a plan view, respectively, illustrating an insertion instrument <NUM> for guiding insertion of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> between the conjunctive and the sclera when the insertion space for inserting the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is secured by the insertion space securement instrument <NUM>. The insertion instrument <NUM> has a question-mark shape as a whole when viewing from a front, similar to the insertion space securement instrument <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>, and is made of a metal alloy material, a plastic material or a silicone material for a surgical instrument.

The insertion instrument <NUM> includes a semicircular insertion instrument body <NUM> having a flat and thin elliptical cross section, a grip <NUM> which is bent and extends in a direction perpendicular to the tangential direction at one end of the semicircular insertion instrument body <NUM>, and a hook <NUM> which is provided at the tip of the semicircular insertion instrument body <NUM> and has an opening groove <NUM> which is opened outward so that the hook is locked to an edge portion of the hooking hole <NUM> of the eye enlargement implant <NUM>. It is preferable that the grip <NUM> is formed in an L shape bent at any angle so that a practitioner (doctor) can easily hold and grip it.

<FIG> is a front view illustrating a pulling-out instrument <NUM> that forms a pair with the insertion instrument <NUM> (the pulling-out instrument is also an instrument which is used for inserting the eye enlargement implant into the eyeball, such that when it is necessary to distinguish the pulling-out instrument from the insertion instrument for the purpose of explanation, the pulling-out instrument is described as the pulling-out instrument itself, and when it is not necessary to distinguish, for example, when the pulling-out instrument is defined in an independent claim separate from the insertion instrument <NUM>, it is described as the insertion instrument). The pulling-out instrument <NUM> also has a question-mark shape as a whole, and is made of a metal alloy material, a plastic material, or a silicone material for a surgical instrument. The pulling-out instrument <NUM> includes a semicircular pulling-out instrument body <NUM> having a flat and thin elliptical cross section, a grip <NUM> which is bent and extends in a direction perpendicular to the tangential direction at one end of the semicircular pulling-out instrument body <NUM>, and a hook <NUM> which is provided at the tip of the semicircular pulling-out instrument body <NUM> and has an opening groove <NUM> which is opened toward the body so that the hook is locked to the edge portion of the hooking hole <NUM> of the eye enlargement implant <NUM>. It is preferable that the grip <NUM> is formed in an L shape so that a practitioner (doctor) can easily hold and grip it.

The pulling-out instrument <NUM> is an instrument which is to be used after the insertion instrument <NUM> guides the tip of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> to a position of <NUM> degrees with respect to the incised portion <NUM>, and then is retracted and pulled out through the incised portion <NUM>. The pulling-out instrument <NUM> is inserted through the incised portion <NUM> in a direction opposite to a direction in which the inserting portion <NUM> is inserted, for example, if the insertion instrument <NUM> is inserted in the counter-clockwise direction, the pulling-out instrument <NUM> is inserted in the clockwise direction opposite thereto. When the pulling-out instrument <NUM> is inserted and the hook <NUM> at the tip thereof reaches the <NUM>-degree position of the eyeball, after the hook <NUM> is locked to the edge portion of the hooking hole <NUM> at the tip of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> which has been inserted to that position and has been in a standby state, the pulling-out instrument <NUM> is drawn in a circular motion and pulled out of the eyeball (the insertion instrument <NUM> pushes the eye enlargement implant <NUM> while the pulling-out instrument <NUM> pulls out the eye enlargement implant <NUM>). By doing so, as the tip of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is pulled by the pulling-out instrument <NUM>, the tip is turned around the outer periphery of the cornea and pulled out through the incised portion <NUM>. When the tip is pulled out as described above, the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is inserted in a ring shape so as to surround the periphery of the cornea by <NUM> degrees, and thus the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is positioned between the conjunctiva and the sclera.

Hereinafter, a method of performing a cosmetic procedure in which the eye enlargement implant <NUM> according to the present invention is inserted into an eyeball will be described in steps with reference to a flowchart in <FIG>.

First, a ring-shaped eye enlargement implant <NUM> is prepared (Step A). When various examinations of the eyeball are completed, in order to insert the eye enlargement implant <NUM>, a practitioner (doctor) incises only the conjunctiva <NUM> which is formed as an outer layer of the eyeball, starting from an outer boundary of an cornea or the slightly inner place thereof, and extending in a straight line with a predetermined width, for example, a size slightly greater than the width b of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> in a radial direction with respect to the center of the eyeball by using a scalpel, to thereby form an incised portion <NUM> (Step B).

When the incised portion <NUM> is formed, the practitioner (doctor) holds the grip <NUM> of the insertion space securement instrument <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> to push and insert the tip portion thereof in one direction, for example, a counter-clockwise direction (see an arrow illustrated in <FIG>) through the incised portion <NUM>. Thereby, as the insertion space securement instrument <NUM> is inserted under the conjunctiva thereof, the conjunctiva and the sclera that have been in close contact with each other become separated from each other, and thus an insertion space is secured (Step C).

When the tip portion of the insertion space securement instrument <NUM> turns around the cornea in the counter-clockwise direction and reaches a side opposite to the incised portion <NUM>, that is, a position of about <NUM> degrees, the practitioner (doctor) stops the inserting operation for securing a space, retracts the insertion space securement instrument <NUM> in a direction opposite to an advancing direction, and pulls out the same from the incised portion, then a first space securing operation is completed (Step D).

Next, the tip portion of other insertion space securement instrument <NUM>, which is symmetrical with the insertion space securement instrument <NUM>, or the insertion space securement instrument <NUM>, which is collected by being pulled out of the eyeball and is turned over, is inserted into the eyeball through the incised portion <NUM>. However, the tip portion is inserted, for example, in the counter-clockwise direction in the first space securing operation, whereas at this moment, the tip portion is pushed and inserted into the eyeball in a direction opposite thereto, that is, in a clockwise direction (see a dashed-line arrow illustrated in <FIG>). Accordingly, the insertion space securement instrument <NUM> turns around the cornea while enlarging the space between the conjunctiva and the sclera that have been in close contact with each other, and the tip portion thereof reaches a side opposite to the incised portion <NUM>, that is, a position of <NUM> degrees, and as a result, gap spaces on both sides of the eyeball communicate with each other. In this state, the practitioner (doctor) retracts the insertion space securement instrument <NUM> again, and pulls out the same through the incised portion <NUM>, then a second space securing operation is completed (Step E).

When a ring-shaped gap having a predetermined width is formed between the conjunctiva and the sclera by enlarging the conjunctiva using the insertion space securement instrument <NUM>, the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is inserted into the gap. To this end, the hook <NUM> formed at the tip portion of the semicircular insertion instrument body <NUM> of the insertion instrument <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG> is inserted into the hooking hole <NUM> formed in the tip portion of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> so as to be locked thereto from bottom to top (or from top to bottom). Then, the hook <NUM> of the tip portion thereof is pushed into the gap between the conjunctiva and the sclera through the incised portion <NUM> in the counter-clockwise direction (or the clockwise direction). When the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is inserted together therewith using the insertion instrument <NUM> through the incised portion <NUM>, since the gap is formed between the conjunctiva and the sclera in advance, the two instruments <NUM> and <NUM> are smoothly inserted along the gap. When the tip portion of the hook is inserted at a position of <NUM>° which is a side opposite to the incised portion <NUM>, further inserting operation is not performed, and the insertion instrument <NUM> is pulled out by retracting. When the insertion instrument <NUM> is retracted in an opposite direction along a movement trajectory at the time of insertion, the hook <NUM> is taken out from the hooking hole <NUM>, and then when the practitioner (doctor) pulls out the insertion instrument <NUM> in a circular motion, the semicircular insertion instrument body <NUM> of the insertion instrument <NUM> is finally pulled out of the incised portion <NUM>. In this state, one half of the body of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is inserted into the eyeball, that is, the tip portion in which the hooking hole <NUM> is formed is located at a position of <NUM> degrees which is the side opposite to the incised portion <NUM>, the tip portion is within the eyeball, and the other half of the body of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> remains outside the eyeball (Step F).

In the next step, the tip portion of the semicircular pulling-out instrument body <NUM> of the pulling-out instrument <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG> is pushed through the incised portion <NUM> in an opposite direction, that is, since a part of body of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is located on a right side of the eyeball <NUM> based on <FIG>, in a left direction of the incised portion <NUM>, and is inserted into the eyeball in a circular motion with respect to the left outer periphery of the eyeball in the clockwise direction. When the tip portion of the pulling-out instrument body <NUM> reaches the tip portion of the eye enlargement implant <NUM>, the hook <NUM> is further advanced so as to slightly pass the hooking hole <NUM>, and the pulling-out instrument <NUM> is retracted and allows the hook <NUM> to be locked to the edge portion of the hooking hole <NUM>. When the hook <NUM> is locked to the edge portion of the hooking hole <NUM>, the hook <NUM> is continuously pulled out, and thereby, the eye enlargement implant <NUM> locked with the hook <NUM> also moves together. By doing so, when the hook <NUM> of the pulling-out instrument <NUM> is taken out from the incised portion <NUM>, the end portion <NUM> having the hooking hole <NUM> of the eye enlargement implant <NUM> locked with the hook <NUM> is also pulled out of the eyeball through the incised portion <NUM> (Step G).

When the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is seated on the outer periphery of the cornea of the eyeball in a ring shape, the practitioner (doctor) cuts out a surplus overlapping end portion having the hooking hole <NUM>, that is, brings both end portions thereof into contact with each other at the boundary <NUM> thereof as illustrated in <FIG>, or cuts the surplus portion, with some portion left so as to allow both end portions to be slightly overlapped (Step H). After the cutting, the both end portions are sutured with each other (Step I), and then, when the incised portion <NUM> of the conjunctiva is sutured (Step J), all the procedures are ended. As illustrated in <FIG>, in a case in which the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is inserted between the conjunctiva <NUM> and the sclera <NUM> in a ring shape so as to surround the outer periphery of the cornea <NUM> of the eyeball, when other people look at the eyes, the diameter of the eye appears to be enlarged by the eye enlargement implant <NUM> which looks in the color substantially the same as or similar to that of the iris. Accordingly, the eye looks bigger and crisper (the size of the eye before the procedure is the diameter d1, but after the procedure, the eye looks bigger to the diameter D1).

As described above, according to the present invention, when the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is not required, the conjunctiva <NUM> is incised again to form the incised portion, and the eye enlargement implant <NUM> is easily pulled out, and then the conjunctiva <NUM> is sutured again, to thereby return the eyeball to the original state. In addition, the cosmetic effect of allowing the eye to look bigger can be obtained safely without side effects such as vision loss or eye inflammation.

Claim 1:
An eye enlargement implant (<NUM>) for beauty of eyes, comprising:
- a ring-shaped body (<NUM>) to be inserted between a sclera (<NUM>) and a conjunctiva (<NUM>) of an eyeball (<NUM>), the ring-shaped body (<NUM>) having an inner diameter portion (<NUM>) and an outer diameter portion (<NUM>),
- wherein the inner diameter portion (<NUM>) has at least a size enough to surround an outer periphery of a cornea (<NUM>), a width (b) between the inner diameter portion (<NUM>) and the outer diameter portion (<NUM>) of <NUM> to <NUM> so as to cover a part of the sclera (<NUM>) of a corresponding width, and having a maximum thickness (t) of <NUM> to <NUM>,
- wherein the ring-shaped body (<NUM>) is made of a material having flexibility and the same color as that of the iris (<NUM>), and
- wherein further the ring-shaped body (<NUM>) has a first end portion (<NUM>) and a second end portion (<NUM>) separated from each other by a cut part (<NUM>) for facilitating insertion into the eyeball (<NUM>), the cut part (<NUM>) being formed by cutting the ring-shaped body (<NUM>),
characterized in that
- and wherein a hooking hole (<NUM>) is formed in at least one of the first end portion (<NUM>) and the second end portion (<NUM>) for insertion of a hook so as to pull and move the ring-shaped body (<NUM>),
- wherein both end portions (<NUM>, <NUM>) are adapted to be overlapped with each other and adhered or sewn with each other after insertion into the eyeball (<NUM>).