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

More than half of he US population wear a form of corrective eyewear to treat refractive errors such as myopia, hyperopia, and keratoconus. Although alternative treatments such as Laser-Assisted in situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) and Orthokeratology have been also used to improve vision in patients, 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. Alternative techniques of achieving the same permanent shape change are being explored.