New Procedure on Track to Revolutionize Cataract Surgery; Technology Would Also End Middle Aged Eyes' Need for Reading Glasses.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 2003

A revolutionary procedure that would make aging eyes "young again," by replacing the contents of the eye's lens with a soft polymer, promises to fundamentally change the way cataract surgery is performed -- and to allow middle-aged patients to enjoy life without reading glasses.

The University of Miami's Bascom Palmer Eye Institute today announced it is developing the new treatment which, when proven safe and effective, should enable cataract patients to see clearly -- and to rapidly focus near and far. Bascom Palmer biophysicist and biomedical engineer Dr. Jean-Marie Parel reported the findings yesterday at the American Academy of Ophthalmology's annual meeting in Anaheim. He leads the Bascom Palmer team responsible for developing both the surgical procedure and instrumentation for the technique.

"We expect aging patients will feel they are '16 again,' regaining teenage vision," said Dr. Parel. "This procedure goes beyond the relief from clouding provided by traditional cataract procedures, restoring the ability to quickly shift focus at varying distances. After surgery, patients would be able to focus on a computer screen, look down to read a credit card, and look up again to see a face across the room."

Initially, researchers expect the technology will be used in cataract surgery -- typically performed on elderly patients, and the most common surgical procedure worldwide. It offers further applications to restore middle-aged patients' ability to rapidly shift focus at varying distances, while ensuring they do not develop cataracts as they age.

Dr. Parel, research associate professor at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, and his team are collaborating with an international scientific initiative, in which scientists at the Australian government's multinational Vision Cooperative Research Centre are developing a polymer gel formulation that would chemically reproduce the characteristics of a young adult's lens.

Dr. Parel said that in cataract surgery, physicians would no longer substitute an intraocular lens implant for the patient's own lens contents. Instead, the patient's lens capsule would be retained, its contents removed and replaced with the polymer. UV or visible light would transform the liquid to a gel after injection, restoring the lens' pliability to "accommodate," or adjust shape in focusing.

"Here, in Australia, Finland, and India, top research talent is working to perfect and prove that accommodation can be regained in this way," said Dr. Carmen Puliafito, chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Miami School of Medicine and the director of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. "With so many Baby Boomers and elderly adults affected by loss of the eye's ability to easily change focus, the advance would be most significant."

Dr. Parel's team is the first to restore over 9 dioptres of accommodation -- enough to comfortably read small print -- in a post-mortem human eye. The next steps will be to prove safety and effectiveness and seek Food and Drug Administration approval, followed by testing in humans perhaps as soon as 2005, Dr. Parel said.

One of the world's premier centers for ophthalmic research, education and eye care, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute annually treats over 200,000 patients and performs over 10,000 surgeries. The Institute has served as the Department of Ophthalmology for the University of Miami School of Medicine since its founding in 1962. For information: Cynthia Birch at 305/326-6190 or [e-mail] or visit http://www.bascompalmer.org.

Digital photo of Dr. Parel is available upon request.