The accommodation mechanism is the core moving “engine” of the eye – responsible for dynamic range of visual focus, as well as hydrodynamic equilibrium and circulatory functions. Doesn’t it seem likely that there would be potential ocular health benefits in rejuvenating rigid ocular tissues?
Today, there still is no authentic viable therapeutic to rejuvenate ocular rigidity and restore accommodation biomechanics. While other surgical approaches focus on exchanging the refractive power of the cornea or the lens, LSM presents an opportunity to treat one of the causes of aging eye pathogenesis.
Aging is characterized by the accumulation of protein crosslinks and modifications that participate in tissue stiffening. In the eye, ocular rigidity has been correlated with increasing age, loss of visual accommodation as well as other age-related eye diseases. Clearly, there is an opening for a biomechanical solution to a biomechanical problem.
In simple terms, LSM uses the VisioLite® Er:Yag laser to create tiny micropores in scleral tissue, in a matrix array uncross-linking collagen brils in hardened sclera, allowing the ciliary muscles and other accommodative anatomy beneath this ocular coat to move more freely. The 2.94 µm Er:Yag laser is a new laser wavelength in ophthalmology that is at the peak absorption of water (3.00 µm), which is ideal for vaporization of ocular connective tissue. The aim? Biomechanical restoration of Dynamic Range of Focus (DRoF) of the crystalline lens throughout all ranges of vision.
Notably, LSM does not directly a ect any of the optics of the eye and is therefore a therapeutic treatment rather than a refractive correction procedure. However, because of its mode of action on cross-linking, LSM could be considered a core technology that addresses the root cause of presbyopia, certain types of glaucoma, and other age-related diseases of the eye.
Microporation therapeutics is an untapped space in ophthalmology and could expand into ocular drug delivery through scleral tissues for retinal diseases – a paradigm shift from options available today.
Right now, LSM is being evaluated in pilot studies outside of the US with Ace Vision’s Gen I Prototype laser; over 180 patients have been treated. The newly developed Gen II clinical laser will be released in 2022, and US FDA clinical studies are planned for the spring of 2022.
The Aging Eye and the pathogenesis of age-related eye diseases, including accommodative biomechanical dysfunction, are poorly understood. Ace Vision’s core science and research in ocular rigidity and its impact on ocular health and accommodation biodynamics are currently being packaged into courses at all major ophthalmology meetings, “The Aging Eye: The Final Frontier.” The podium goals are directed not only on presenting the results of the LSM procedure, but also on illuminating accommodation biodynamics and hydrodynamics as well as the impact age has on its various functions in the eye. The company is also committed to exploring the VisioLite® technology applications in other disease states through clinical and research investigations.
The LSM procedure is currently being investigated in IRB registered pilot studies outside of the US.
