A Treatment for Myopia, Hyperopia, and Keratoconus: Collagen Crosslinking in the Cornea

Over 50% of the population in the United States currently wear a form of corrective eyewear, such as glasses or contact lenses to treat refractive errors that result from myopia, hyperopia, and keratoconus. About 5% of the US population have had Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK), as an alternative to corrective eyewear. However, the inconvenience of corrective eyewear along with the invasiveness of LASIK has led to the exploration of new methods to correct for common refractive errors. A novel treatment presently being developed involves applying a force to alter the cornea's shape followed by crosslinking to fix the desired shape. The tested crosslinking reagent is Glyceraldehyde, which if lower than 2% is considered safe for application onto the eye. However, results indicate that this treatment fails to offer a viable, permanent solution to holding the shape of the eyes. Additional treatments, which utilize either a hard contact lens or a corneal mold are being explored.