Guide To Managing Farsightedness

Conductive Keratoplasty

Conductive keratoplasty (CK) is a refractive surgical eye procedure that does not utilize a laser. Instead of using a laser, this procedure utilizes a hand-held instrument that includes an extremely small probe on the end of it. Conductive keratoplasty is most often used to treat mild cases of farsightedness and is not as permanent as PRK or LASEK. During the CK procedure, the probe instrument administers low-level, RF energy or radio frequency energy to certain spots on the outer part of the cornea. This energy is applied in a circular pattern around the cornea so the corneal connective tissue only shrinks in those areas. This creates a circular band that tightens around the cornea and causes it to steepen. This corrects mild problems with the eye being unable to focus light beams on a nearby object correctly. An advantage conductive keratoplasty has over LASEK and PRK is no tissue is removed off of the cornea during the procedure. This reduces the risk of post-procedural infections of the eye and other adverse complications. However, conductive keratoplasty is only effective for candidates who meet specific requirements that are more limited than those for LASEK and PRK.