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Ciliary muscle electrostimulation therapy may delay presbyopia
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NEW YORK — Ciliary muscle electrostimulation therapy with an “attack dose” and maintenance doses every 2 to 3 months is a safe and noninvasive way to delay early presbyopia, according to a speaker here.
Four muscle electrostimulation treatments in the first month and then a single treatment once every 3 months can effectively delay early presbyopia, Luca Gualdi, MD, said at OSN New York 2018.
“It’s a new method to delay early presbyopia. Upgrading the actual method, the time, the voltage and the contact lens, and combining ciliary muscle electrostimulation ... with scleral uncross-linking or ‘presbydrops,’ we can find even better results,” Gualdi said.
Gualdi received the Waring Medal for his study, which is awarded annually to an author who has made a significant contribution to the Journal of Refractive Surgery. The journal is published by SLACK Incorporated, which also publishes Healio.com/OSN.
Ciliary muscle electrostimulation is a noninvasive treatment of micro-electrical stimulation to the ciliary muscle to restore accommodation in early presbyopic patients. The study included patients between the ages of 40 to 50 years with emmetropia or low hyperopia and early presbyopia of less than 1.5 D.
The therapy produces rhythmic, low-voltage and constant contraction for the eye. A physician places a polycarbonate contact lens, 20 mm in diameter, that has four 3-mm electrodes on the patient’s eye. The treatment alternates 2 seconds of contractions followed by 6 seconds of rest, for a total treatment time of 8 minutes, Gualdi said.
After treatment, patients in the study experienced a mean increased lens thickness of 0.1 mm and a decreased anterior and posterior ray of curvature of the lens, which resulted in improved accommodative response, he said.
“We found an increase of monocular and binocular vision of almost one character. Also, reading speed time was better after the treatments,” he said. – by Robert Linnehan
Reference:
Gualdi, L Ciliary muscle electrostimulation to restore accommodation in early presbyopia. Presented at: OSN New York 2018; Sept. 28-30, 2018; New York.
Disclosure: Gualdi reports no relevant financial disclosures.