CorneaGen has announced two recently completed studies conducted by four refractive surgeons evaluating the safety and long-term effectiveness of the KAMRA Inlay. The inlay is a mini-ring that restores functional near vision when implanted in the cornea. The researchers conclude that the KAMRA Inlay is an important tool that can be used in combination with LASIK—instead of monovision—to effectively treat presbyopia and help build relationships with patients as their eyesight naturally changes throughout their lives.
Dr. Mitsutoshi Ito of Shinagawa LASIK Center in Tokyo conducted a study involving 2,843 patients treated between May 2011 and January 2014 with a two-stage procedure: LASIK followed by implantation of the KAMRA Inlay a week or more later. The outcome of the procedure and satisfaction of each patient was followed for more than four years. Impressivley, less than seven percent of the study patients later had the KAMRA Inlay removed, and this number includes those who developed diseases such as early cataracts, epiretinal membrane and glaucoma, which necessitated implant removal. Overall, the number of patients who could not adapt to extended depth of focus required by KAMRA or who were unhappy wih other KAMRA-related visual symptoms was much less than Dr. Ito anticipated.
A restrospective U.S. study conducted in 2017 by Dr. Phillip Hoopes, Jr. and Dr. Majid Moshirfar of Hoopes Vision in Draper, Utah, and Dr. Luke Rebenitsch of ClearSight Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., also confirmed that the KAMRA Inlay is safe and effective. The three surgeons followed a total of 126 of their patients who received the KAMRA Inlay either in a simultaneous LASIK/inlay surgery or in a simultaneous PRK/inlay surgery to treat presbyopia.
First approved by the FDA in 2015, the KAMRA Inlay has since been acquired from Acufocus in March 2018 by CorneaGen. The KAMRA Inlay is part of CorneaGen’s growing line of innovative and affordable therapeutics for corneal surgeons. Read the full news release from CorneaGen.