A lot has been done with prosthetic eyes in the past, but where they re going in the future remains to be seen. From the crude glass that they were originally made from (hence the name glass eyes) to the acrylic and natural looking options that are available today, it s clear that this is a field in which there have been many advances. New ideas are always being presented and new materials are being explored in order to make the artificial eyes of the future even more natural looking and durable than they are today. While they ve clearly come far in a short period of time, there s always room for improvement and advancement where anything in medicine is concerned.
One issue for those who use a prosthetic eye is that the movement is not the same as a natural eye. No one could figure out quite how to achieve a more natural movement. More than 50 years ago, magnets were tried for this purpose, but they weren t successful. However, the future of natural movement in an artificial eye may still lie with the use of magnets, although in a different way than before. Sometimes older ideas, even though they did not work at the time, provide a lot of thought and information for advancements at a later date.
There are integrated implants that are available today and which were not available at the time that magnets were first tried for prosthetic eye movement. The new implant technology coupled with magnets should allow for near natural movement in someone who has an ocular prosthesis. While this technology isn t available yet, there are some systems already being tried in order to offer movement to a prosthetic eye. Unfortunately, most of these systems have complications. The newer technology using integrated implants and magnets, however, should eliminate those complications seen in the other systems. That s great news for people who are interested in having more of a natural movement to their artificial eye but don t want the risks that they associate with some of the more current systems.
There s no word as to when this technology will be available, but it shouldn t be that long, since it s being developed now. Unforeseen problems could appear, but right now this new technology is still on track.
Another potential advance for artificial eyes is sight. There are retinal implants that are currently being studied, and they have been able to restore partial sight to some patients. They may not work for everyone, and the development of them for common and commercial use is still some time away, but they offer real potential – especially to people who have two prosthetic eyes and are, therefore, completely blind. Most of these people have not been blind from birth, and certainly some of them mourn the loss of their sight, so the idea that they could potentially get some of it back in the future is an option that they re very interested in. Because medical science moves so rapidly, it s certain that new and better options for those who have a need to wear prosthetic eyes (either one or both) will continue to appear.
Author Resource:
Carolina Eye Prosthetics provides hand-crafted and hand-painted prosthetic eyes. With two North Carolina locations their ocularists serve patients in need of artificial eyes. For more information about Carolina Eye Prosthetics visit http://www.carolinaeyeprostheticsinc.com or call 1-877-763-9393.
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