Cure for presbyopia?

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

You may be able to abandon your reading glasses, if new research comes to fruition.
One hundred per cent of people over 50 need reading glasses because of presbyopia - the inability to focus on near objects because of aging of the eye lens, which loses its flexibility. Treatment by laser surgery is thought risky, but researchers at the University of Michigan now suggest a new approach.

They are using a combination of microscopic bubbles and ultrasound to re-shape the eye lens. An ultrafast laser is used to create tiny gas bubbles within the lens and these are hit by high frequency ultrasound - this helps the surgeon to measure the pliability of the lens. The laser then re-shapes the lens in a very controlled way. It works in animals and it's hoped that it will be tested in humans in the not too distant future.

Source
University of Michigan 24th May 2006

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