Presbyopia is a Greek work which means old eyes, and is a condition every Australia will eventually get, leading to blurred vision.

Now a new treatment is designed to make those old eyes young again.

Just 3.8 millimetres in diameter, the Kamra inlay is a device that’s inserted into the cornea of the eye. Mimicking the depth of field principle used in photographic cameras, the Kamra makes words that were blurry clear again.

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Refractive and Cataract surgeon Dr Kerrie Meades is one of the first three doctors in the country about to use Kamra.

“You will find it focuses the light for you, and cuts out the out-of-ray focuses,” Dr Meades said.

“It’s all done under local anaesthetic - just a few drops. I think it’s going to improve Australians eyesight.”

Keeping eyes healthy

The procedure is very quick, and after just ten minutes in the chair, within 24 to 48 hours you can throw your glasses away.

Refractive surgeon Dr Patrick Versace explains that patients retain their distance vision because the device is only inserted into one eye.

“The beauty of it is it doesn’t impact the distant vision, so were able to give increased depth of focus. It means extra close vision, without negatively impacting the distance vision,” he explained.

“It’s not changing the focusing on the eye. Working through small aperture optics, putting it in one eye, the patients can still use both eyes together in balance, but they have an increased depth of focus, and the brain over a period of time up to twelve months learns how to use this visual system,” Dr Versace explained.

The strange sensation of having only one eye to read with hasn’t bothered 53-year-olds Scott and Kathleen Hyslop

“It retrains the other eye, and you don’t notice it at all. You don’t ever close one eye to read, and have both eyes open, and you just read as normal,” Scott said.

The couple had the procedure done eighteen months ago, and are both pleased with the results.

“After the operation, and pretty much the next day, we didn’t need to wear the glasses at all. I work on a computer every day and I was relying on them all the time to focus, and I didn’t need them at all when I went back to work the next day,” Kathleen said.

The Kamra inlay costs about $4000, but it’s not for everyone.

Refractive and cataract surgeon Dr Paul Hughes believes the Kamra inlay device is only suited to patients with perfect distance vision. Instead he chooses to use refractive lens exchange – replacing the ageing lens in the eye with a new artificial one.

“The lens restores their distance vision, their near vision and if they’ve got astigmatism, it corrects that as well. So yes, we're restoring their youth,” he said.

While the refractive lens exchange procedure is non-reversible, the Kamra device can be taken out if the patient dislikes it.

• AcuFocus - www.kamra.com
• Personal Eyes - www.personaleyes.com.au
• Dr Patrick Versace: Laser Eye Surgery - www.drpatrickversace.com.au
• Vista Eyes - Laser Eye Clinic Australia - www.vistaeyes.com.au
• Vision Eye Institute - www.visioneyeinstitute.com.au