Optical assembly permanently attached to the cornea
OwnerGholam A. Peyman, Jeffrey E. Koziolinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device and method for permanently correcting refractive errors in the eye. An optical element, such as a lens, having at least one opening therein for the diffusion of nutrients from a recipient's cornea, is positioned on the recipient's cornea and held in place by an optical covering, such as a donor cornea. The covering covers the optical element, and is attached to the recipient's cornea by means of, for example, sutures.
Claims19
An optical assembly to be placed over a recipient's cornea for aid in correcting refractive errors of the eye, the combination comprising:
- a separate, deformable, and transparent optical covering adapted to be coupled to the recipient's cornea;
- and
- an optical element adapted to be located between said optical covering and the outer surface of the recipient's cornea, said element being a solid, having at least one opening therein for the diffusion of nutrients from the recipient's cornea and for directly engaging the outer surface of the recipient's cornea.
A method for at least partially correcting refractive errors of the eye, comprising the steps of
- positioning onto the outer surface of a recipient's cornea an optical assembly comprising an optical element having at least one opening therein for the diffusion of nutrients from the recipient's cornea, and a separate, deformable, and transparent optical covering overlying the optical element, the optical element directly engaging the outer surface of the recipient's cornea and being a solid, and
- securing the optical covering to the recipient's cornea.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.