Corneal Inlays for the Surgical Treatment

I t is a great pleasure to join John Vukich, MD, as a section editor of Advanced Ocular Care’s “Technology Watch” column. I look forward to sharing insights of experts from around the world into the innovations that will pave the way for the future of the eye care industry. Although much has been written on the topic, there is no universally accepted treatment for presbyopia. Therapies range from bifocal spectacles to scleral expansion to accommodating IOLs to corneal procedures such as presbyLASIK or conductive keratoplasty. An intrastromal approach is currently being investigated in FDA clinical studies for the treatment of near-plano presbyopia. The three inlays discussed in this article are in different stages of the FDA investigational device exemption (IDE) process and are not yet approved for use in the United States. Figure 1 provides a brief description of the technologies, their materials, and their mechanisms of action.