This technology uses a femtosecond laser to crosslink collagen and can be used as treatment for repair of collagenous tissues such as cornea and cartilage. Specific uses currently being developed include: • non-invasive permanent vision correction • treatment of keratoconus and other ectasias • treatment of early osteoarthritis
Ophthalmology Non-invasive vision correction Current prevalence of nearsightedness in United States and Europe is twice as large in comparison to fifty years ago. Furthermore, in east Asia up to 90% of teenagers and young adults are short-sighted. By some estimates, about 2.5 billion of people may have been affected by short-sightedness in 2020. The proposed treatment is a noninvasive, laser-assisted method for permanent vision correction. This treatment has potential to replace current clinical practice, which relies on surgeries for permanent refractive error correction. A noninvasive alternative to surgical vision correction would significantly expand pool of eligible patients while simultaneously eliminating side effects associated with the surgeries, such as diminishing of the corneal mechanical properties, post-surgical wound-healing and inflammation. Non-invasive nature of the procedure would reduce fear factor, one of widely cited reasons for not choosing refractive surgeries to correct vision.
Keratoconus Keratoconus (KCN) is a progressive, non-inflammatory ectatic condition characterized by thinning and protrusion of cornea which results in its conical shape. As such, this condition can lead to a significant visual impairment, and is one of leading reasons for keratoplasty in developed world. In recent years, crosslinking of corneal collagen via application of a photosensitizer, usually riboflavin, followed by its photoactivation with ultraviolet-A (UVA) light has become a mainstay treatment for corneal ectasias. However, although the procedure strengthens the corneal stroma and prevents its further deterioration, CxL does not reverse changes in the cornea that have already happened. It involves potentially harmful UV light irradiation resulting in tissue damage and post- treatment cell apoptosis. Proposed technology could permanently correct impairment and enhance corneal mechanical properties using ultrafast laser irradiation in a non-invasive and safe manner. Orthopedics More than 27 million Americans suffer from degenerative diseases of articular cartilage, such as osteoarthritis. While the expected lifetime of the load-bearing cartilage tissue should coincide with the lifespan of an individual, it has a limited ability to self-repair and the damage to the tissue can accumulate severely. Current therapeutic options for osteoarthritis involve highly invasive surgical intervention or joint replacement and are only performed in later stages of disease. There are no effective treatment options at early stages of osteoarthritis. An ultra-fast laser-based treatment for cartilage repair that induces crosslinks into the tissue matrix is a promising intervention for early-stage osteoarthritis and has the potential to slow down disease progression and improve patient outcomes.
This technology is an ultrafast laser-based treatment method that induces tissue crosslinking. The laser emits low energy infrared light and does not require pre-treatment with photodynamic agents, lowering the risk of tissue damage. The laser also provides targeted irradiation with focused ultrafast pulses that allows for spatially resolved crosslinking. The laser ionizes interstitial water in the tissue and creates short bursts of reactive oxygen species, which react with surrounding collagen to form covalent bonds – crosslinks. This results in improvement of tissue biomechanical properties.
This technology has been validated with in vitro studies.
Fan, J, Wendt, JL, Yang, K, Mencattelli, M, Vukelic, S, Effects of Combining External Mechanical Load with UV-A Light/Riboflavin CXL onto Corneal Curvature. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2020;61(9):PB00105.
Wang, C, Fomovsky, M, Fan, J, Vukelic, S (2019) Novel, laser-assisted approach to noninvasive permanent correction of refractive errors, Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, April 28 – May 2, 2019
IR CU17220, CU17226, CU18005, CU18180, CU15164, CU16321, CU17036
Licensing Contact: Sara Gusik