By age 45, a person is likely to face difficulties in focusing on near objects like printed text in newspapers, price tags and text messages on the mobile phone.

Presbyopia comes with the normal ageing process and affects people aged 40 years and beyond, reducing the ability of the eye to focus on near objects. Traditionally, reading glasses are prescribed to improve vision.

Now KAMRA^TM corneal inlay offers an innovative treatment solution, correcting loss of near vision. This is a safe, effective and innovative treatment that reduces the need for reading glasses. 

Success of World-wide Clinical Trials

After a 5-year study by the Singapore Eye Research Institute and the Singapore National Eye Centre, more than 60 patients from SNEC experienced improved functional near vision after having their presbyopia treated with the use of a similar type of corneal inlay. It was part of a worldwide multi-centre trial involving several hundred patients and top research institutions in the USA, Europe and Australia. The Singapore National Eye Centre with its research arm, the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), was the exclusive site in Asia.

With the success of the trials, SNEC is now offering this service to suitable patients. The KAMRA^TM corneal inlay is CE approved.

Frustrations with Reading Glasses

A healthy young eye is able to focus light from both far and near objects to create a clear image at all distances. Over time, the eye’s natural lens is too stiff to focus up close. As a result, words and other near objects including price tags and phone messages become blurry.

Reading glasses makes it easy to read a book, work on the computer or read phone messages. However, reading glasses impairs distance vision.

The different types of LASIK surgery procedure to-date have not successfully solved the presbyopia problem with numerous side effects including monovision adaptation problems, decreased contrast sensitivity and night vision disturbances etc.

The new KAMRA^TM corneal inlay treatment offers good near vision while still maintaining good distance vision.

What It Is

KAMRA^TM corneal inlay is smaller than a contact lens. It looks like a tiny black ring or a mini doughnut. Putting it simply, the hole in the centre of the ring restores near vision.

Facts about the Corneal Inlay

• Almost a decade of cutting edge research
• 3.8mm diameter - much smaller than a contact lens.
• 5 microns thin (5/1000 of a millimetre thick) - 1/10th the thickness of a sheet of paper, - 1/20th the thickness of a human hair.
• Curved like a contact lens to match average corneal curvature (7.5mm radius), and flexible enough to bend to different curvatures without buckling.
• Mass is about the weight of a salt crystal.

How It Is Done

With KAMRA^TM, only one eye needs to be implanted for the treatment of presbyopia. From start to finish, the procedure takes less than 20 minutes.

The eye surgeon implants a KAMRA^TM inlay in the cornea of one eye, under a LASIK-type flap or a smaller ‘pocket’ incision with a femtosecond laser (as used in ‘bladeless’ LASIK) in an outpatient procedure. The corneal inlay is inserted and centred. Topical anaesthetic eyedrops are administered onto one eye.

The tiny device is almost invisible to the naked eye, and need only be implanted in just one eye. In addition, the inlay has the potential to be removed and replaced with newer ‘upgraded’ versions if these come about. After the procedure, patients will notice an improvement in functional near vision almost immediately and visual quality for near vision will continue to improve even further with time.

The same principle used in camera lenses to increase range of vision (‘depth of field’) is applied with the KAMRA^TM corneal inlay. A small aperture (opening) increases range of vision. The small aperture created by the corneal inlay reduces the blur when viewing near objects. Light rays pass through the small aperture over a small angle that increases the depth of focus.

This technique to improve presbyopia will be a tremendous boon to adults over the age of 40, many of whom find it increasingly difficult to read small print and have to turn to the aid of reading glasses. Patients have benefited from the implant and are enjoying their new found functional reading vision.

Most of these patients have not undergone any surgery before and have normal distance vision but have problems reading or seeing near without glasses. They have minimum or no refractive error (ie myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism). Some who have undergone LASIK surgery have good distance vision but are finding themselves presbyopic and needing glasses for near work.

The KAMRA^TM corneal inlay may also be used in combination with LASIK surgery for those with myopia, astigmatism and presbyopia, and may also be used in patients after LASIK surgery or cataract surgery, with residual presbyopia.

The corneal inlay and the procedure itself offers an excellent safety profile with no adverse complications seen throughout the trial (similarly in all other international sites). There were only minor side-effects: some do experience some glare and haloes which improves over time, similar to lasik. Some may still have difficult in reading in dim light conditions and may not be fully independent of reading glasses all the time as a consequence.

In summary, the KAMRA^TM corneal inlay is easily implanted using existing ‘bladeless’ LASIK technologies with no stitches required. There is minimal impact on distance vision. The inlay is upgradeable if newer versions are available. With KAMRA^TM, only one eye needs to be implanted for the treatment of presbyopia.

For further information and details on the KAMRA^TM corneal inlay for presbyopia, please contact the SNEC at 6322 8891 or email feedback@snec.com.sg. 

Need indepth information ?

Access our Conditions & Treatments sections for related topics on Astigmatism, Cataracts, Myopia and Presbyopia (Lao Hua).