The cornea is the outermost clear, transparent integral layer located in the front of the iris and pupil. It is responsible for the involuntary eyelids reflex and helps to focus the light on the retina. Any change in the cornea layer consistency causes altered vision. With a decrease in transparency of this layer, blurred vision can occur.
Normally, patients use the words ‘eye transplant’. However, like other organ or tissue transplant surgeries, an actual eye transplant is not possible yet. Even with the help of current modern tools and equipment, eye doctors cannot transplant the entire eye through surgery. It is not possible to remove the whole eye from an individual and transplant it into another patient to improve eye condition or vision.
Common vision or eye-related problems include farsightedness, nearsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia. To correct such problems, ‘refractive surgery’ is carried out. The surgical eye procedure helps reduce dependence on contact lenses or eyeglasses. Today, several types of effective surgical procedures are available, but LASIK surgery is the most popular one.
Keratoconus (kerato: Cornea; konos: Cone) is a Greek word. It is a multifactorial non-inflammatory, progressive disease with biomechanical, biochemical, genetic, and environmental pathophysiology. Keratoconus is characterized by a steepening and thinning of the central and paracentral cornea causing myopia and irregular astigmatism. This eye disease affects approximately 1/2000 people of all races and both sexes equally. The onset of this disease is during the second decade of life around puberty. Keratoconus is bilateral and asymmetric ectatic eye condition which progresses until life’s fourth decade.
Vitrectomy is a surgical procedure in which the vitreous gel that fills the posterior chamber/cavity of the eye is removed to treat eye problems associated with retina or the vitreous. This surgery offers better access to the retina of the eye for different treatments like repair of retinal detachments, removal of scar tissue and treatment of macular holes.
Children with poor vision, uncorrected eye conditions or eye health problems face many challenges in life, socially, academically, and athletically. Ensuring proper eye care is the primary responsibility of the parents. Regular eye check-ups help a lot in securing a child’s future as ophthalmologists diagnose and treat eye-related diseases.
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) in ophthalmology is an emerging technology and is used to obtain high-resolution cross-sectional images of the nerve layer on the inside of the eye, the retina. It is a non-invasive imaging technology. This technology provides images on the micron scale in real time. The retinal layers can be differentiated, and the thickness of the retina can be measured with optical coherence tomography. With the help of such sharper and clearer results, an ophthalmologist can detect and diagnose various retinal diseases and also emerging problems early.
Cataract surgery is known to humanity since ages. The first documented cataract surgical procedure dates back in the fifth century BC. Today, the advanced and sophisticated technologies used in cataract surgery have made it incredibly useful and virtually painless.
Cataract is a very common eye problem and affects millions of people worldwide. If your vision is hampered due to cataract, your eye specialist will ask you to undergo surgery. Although the term ‘cataract surgery’ may sound scary at first, with the help of advanced technology and a qualified and skilled surgeon, it can improve your vision instantly.
Due to the ageing process, cataract develops either in one eye or both. This clouding occurs in the natural lens of the eye. Apart from age, other factors contributing to this condition are genetic disorders, past eye surgery, diabetes, uveitis, eye trauma, etc. Basically, cataract occurs due to protein denaturation which prevents light from passing through the natural lens of the eye and thereby causing hazy vision.