Change your eye color via laser treatment

By Lee Ha-na

Say goodbye to colored contacts!

Stroma Medical’s Dr. Gregg Homer is attempting to launch a 20-second laser treatment to change brown eyes to blue in an irreversible process. This is done by using a laser light that removes pigment from brown eyes and the results can be seen within a few weeks.

Before the procedure takes place, a scanning system takes a picture of the iris to plan out which areas the laser will hit, which “agitates the pigment on the surface of the iris,” according to Dr. Homer. The heat alters the pigment cells’ structure and then the body releases a protein to digest the damaged tissue.

The eye color actually turns darker due to the changing traits of this tissue and then starts to turn blue after a couple of weeks.

Yet experts warn of the dangers of impaired vision since removing brown eye pigment can cause an uncontrollable amount of light entering the eye. However, Dr. Homer tells the BBC that the laser used only removes the pigment on the surface of the eye.

Dr. Homer started experimenting with this laser treatment in 2004 on animals at a facility. He started to carry out his research on actual people in Mexico in August of last year. Seventeen people have been given this treatment so far and the doctor has stated there has been no record of any type of injury.

This eye-changing experience won’t be available in the U.S. for another 3 years, yet many Americans have already expressed increasing interest.

From colored contacts to “circle contact lens,” such ways of altering the eye color are very popular in Asian countries like Korea, Japan, and China. The double-eyelid surgery has also been a trend in these countries for years, which is why this new treatment can only be expected to be just as popular once it hits the Asian market.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15596885