Changing eye color with the laser: a reliable technique?

The color of your eyes does not suit you? You would like your irises to be more azure or deep brown. If so, a surgical technique recently presented by a report by LCI should intrigue you. The media indeed went to meet a Strasbourg ophthalmic surgeon who offers to permanently change the color of your eyes with 45 minutes of your time (and 7,200 euros). The technique seems less invasive and less dangerous than other eye surgeries such as iris implants or depigmentation. But is it really safe?

The operation presented by LCI, annular keratopigmentation, consists in forming a tunnel in the cornea, using a femtosecond laser (with ultra-fast pulses), into which is injected a colored pigment for change the color of the iris. This change is supposed to be final, but the new color can sometimes fade after a few years. And the surgeon interviewed by LCI indicates that he had no complications on the 400 operated patients except ” some dry eyes and (if) temporary glare that eventually disappears. ” On his company’s website, he said that he would only perform the procedure under certain health conditions: having undergone certain refractive surgery operations (vision correction) in the past can for example be considered a contraindication. As LCI explains, however, the profession lacks data and long-term impact studies on this type of intervention. The French Society of Ophthalmology interviewed by the media believes that the potential risks of this technique are poorly assessed and could be potentially serious.

Colored lenses may therefore still have a future. Especially since the researchers are not short of projects for this type of product. A California start-up recently unveiled a prototype of connected lenses equipped with MicroLED screens. A device, initially intended for the visually impaired which should be offered to the general public thereafter.

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