What is Nearvision CK and are You a Good Candidate?
Many patients inquire about CK because they hear that the CK procedure will take away the need for reading glasses. Dr. Holzman was the first physician in the DC metropolitan area to perform CK and has served as a regional training instructor for the CK procedure. Dr. Holzman continues to be the expert surgeon to see for CK since he has the most experience with CK technique and has performed more CK than any other provider. Read the article below that I found on the Nearvision CK procedure on allaboutvision.com. It is a great place to start your research if you are thinking about coming in for a complimentary consultation regarding laser vision correction and the CK procedure.
“You may be a good candidate for NearVision CK if your eyewear prescription has been stable for at least one year and you:
- Are over age 40.
- Have had good distance vision your entire life but now need reading glasses.
- Are willing to accept slight distance
Conductive keratoplasty (CK) is a non-laser refractive eye surgery designed to correct mild hyperopia and help people who are middle-aged and older reduce their need for reading glasses after they become presbyopic.
Refractec Inc. (Irvine, Calif.) markets the CK procedure under the trade name NearVision CK.
More About Conductive Keratoplasty
Unlike LASIK, PRK and other laser-based procedures, NearVision CK uses low energy radio waves to reshape the cornea and restore near vision.
During the CK procedure, your eye surgeon uses a hand-held instrument with a tiny probe (smaller than a human hair) to apply low-level, radio frequency (RF) energy to specific spots that form a circular pattern on the outer part of the cornea.
In conductive keratoplasty, low heat energy from radio frequency is applied through a probe to reshape your eye’s surface.
Connective tissue then shrinks where the RF energy was applied, causing the circular band to act like a belt that “tightens” and steepens the cornea. This change in the curvature of the eye’s surface affects the way light rays enter the eye to bring near vision back into focus.
Unlike LASIK or PRK, no tissue is removed from the eye during a NearVision CK procedure that takes only a few minutes.
CK also is being investigated as a way to correct certain types of astigmatism that create an irregular eye surface due to trauma or surgical incisions.
The Journal of Refractive Surgery in February 2010 reported outcomes of CK treatment for 13 eyes with this type of astigmatism, including improved visual acuity and contrast sensitivity — as well as reduced sensitivity to glare.
A new form of the procedure, called topography-guided conductive keratoplasty, also is being investigated as a safe way to treat keratoconus — an eye disease that causes thinning and irregularity of the corneal surface.
In October 2010, the American Journal of Ophthalmology reported results of a small study that showed 15 of 21 keratoconic eyes treated with topography-guided CK achieved more normal corneal symmetry. With this treatment, corneal transplants also were avoided.
Imaging of the corneal surface (topography) was used in this method of CK to help create individualized treatments.”
