New Eye-Shaping Technique Could Replace LASIK

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Electromechanical reshaping tweaks pH to correct the cornea

By Meghie Rodrigues |02 Sep 2025

A new, promising technique has the potential to replace laser surgeries in ophthalmologists’ offices in the future, for a fraction of the cost. Called electromechanical reshaping (EMR), the technique offers a gentler approach to correcting the cornea than Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK), today’s gold standard for treating vision issues including nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.

The eye develops these and other conditions when the cornea’s curvature is off—too steep, too flat, or too uneven. To solve the problem, surgeons generally use laser techniques such as LASIK to “sculpt” the eye surface by cutting away small parts of corneal tissue. The results can be life-changing, but the procedure has its risks, as LASIK permanently reduces corneal strength, raising the risk of new vision problems.

Alternative nonsurgical methods such as specially designed contact lenses can temporarily mold the cornea, but these require nightly wear and can cause infection. Now, engineers and eye doctors are trying to find a way to permanently reshape collagen-rich tissues like the cornea without cutting, burning, or removing material.

Brian Wong, a surgeon-engineer at the University of California, Irvine, stumbled upon a possible solution about a decade ago. He had long worked with thermal techniques for reshaping cartilage tissues—which include the cornea—but found a puzzling “Goldilocks problem” during his research: The heating needed to change shapes often killed too many tissue cells. Then a “happy accident” opened a different perspective, he says. “My postdoctoral fellow connected a pair of electrodes and a Coke can to a power supply…and out of spite, fried a piece of cartilage,” Wong recalls. The cartilage began to bubble, which the postdoc thought was from heat. “But it wasn’t hot. We touched it and thought, this is getting a shape change. This must be electrolysis,” he says.

That surprise pointed to electrochemistry rather than heat as the mechanism. To explore further, Wong partnered with Michael Hill, a chemist at Occidental College. Together, they began exploring the chemistry behind EMR and testing it in different tissues. In mid-August, they presented results from their most recent tests at the American Chemical Society’s fall meeting that took place in Washington, D.C.

How Electricity Reshapes Tissue

EMR uses small electrical pulses to split water at the tissue surface into hydrogen and oxygen, releasing protons that spread into the part of the corneal tissue that gives it structural integrity, the ability to hydrate, and other mechanical properties.

Once protons are spread throughout the cornea’s surface, they disrupt the chemical bonds that hold collagen fibers in place, also changing the corneal tissue’s pH. This, Wong explains, is the moment when the cornea becomes moldable. Once shaped with a metal contact lens–like mold, it “locks in” to the new shape as the electric pulses are turned off and the body’s natural physiological response returns the cornea’s pH back to its normal value.

In 2023, Wong and Hill coauthored a proof-of-concept paper in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, showing that EMR could reshape rabbit corneas without compromising transparency. “That paper was really about asking, is it even possible? Can we change the shape of a cornea without gross damage?” Hill says. “Now, after two more years of work, we’ve systematically gone through the parameters—and we can say yes, it is possible, and we can do it safely,” he adds.

Their team built custom platinum contact lenses, press-molded to precise curvatures, and connected them to electrodes. Mounted onto rabbit eyes immersed in a saline solution, the electrodes delivered pulses of around 1.5 volts. X-ray imaging tests confirmed the corneas had indeed matched the mold’s shape. Microscopy tests also confirmed the collagen tissue remained organized post-surgery. “Fine control is the key,” Wong observes.

The cost of procedures using the new technique can be significantly lower than laser eye surgery, according to Wong. That’s because, unlike LASIK, EMR doesn’t rely on “laser platforms that cost as much as luxury cars.” The new technique could also be more affordable for clinics and regions priced out of LASIK.

While the technique has a long way to go before being used in eye surgeries, the research is advancing to in-vivo animal tests to prove safety and durability—and for long-term tracking to ensure the results last. “Nobody’s getting this at the optometrist next year,” Hill cautions. “Now comes the hard work—refining parameters, confirming long-term viability, and making sure treated eyes don’t revert back,” he adds.

That hard work, Hill adds, depends a lot on funding for basic science. EMR was born not from a targeted medical-device program but from curiosity-driven experiments in electrochemistry. “You don’t always know where basic research will lead,” Hill says. “We were looking at electroanalytical chemistry, not eye surgery. But those foundational insights are what made this possible. If you cut off that basic research, you don’t get these kinds of unexpected, transformative opportunities,” he adds.

Click here to read full article on the Spectrum website.

 

UC Irvine Researchers Secure NIH Grant to Advanced Intravascular Imaging System

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UC Irvine Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic researchers Drs. Zhongping Chen and Howard Lee were awarded a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to develop an advanced imaging system for interventional cardiology.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common type of heart-related issue, affecting over 18 million adults and resulting in more than 350,000 deaths annually in recent years. Acute coronary events are primarily caused by ruptured atherosclerotic plaques, emphasizing the need for early detection and accurate identification of plaque types as the first line of defense. Obtaining detailed morphology and functional information on atherosclerotic plaques is crucial for advancing clinical management of atherosclerosis.

Drs. Chen and Lee, working alongside UC Irvine collaborator Dr. Pranav Patel and Dr. Qifa Zho from USC are developing an advanced intravascular imaging system that combines the high spatial resolution of optical coherence tomography, the broad imaging depth of ultrasound, and the high molecular sensitivity of photoacoustic tomography. The multimodal imaging probe designed for studying and characterizing plaque vulnerability requires only a single disposable guide wire and catheter, which will help reduce costs, procedural risks, procedure time, and radiation exposure for patients.

This system will assist clinicians in detecting high-risk arterial areas, customizing treatment approaches for individual patients, monitoring the progression of the disease over time, and evaluating therapeutic effectiveness.  The system is expected to serve as a powerful clinical tool, offering a quantitative methods to benchmark and evaluate new medical devices and therapies in cardiovascular medicine.

Click here to read more about the “Development of Integrated OCT/US/PAT System for Intravascular Imaging” study.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01HL177188. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

 

LASIK alternative reshapes vision with electricity, not lasers 08-25-2025 LASIK alternative reshapes vision with electricity, not lasers

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By Sanjana Gajbhiye
Earth.com staff writer

For millions of Americans, daily life involves coping with altered vision, from blurriness to complete blindness. Glasses and contact lenses offer solutions, yet many prefer not to rely on them.

In response, hundreds of thousands turn to corrective eye surgeries every year. Among the most common is LASIK, a laser-assisted procedure that reshapes the cornea to sharpen sight.

Why LASIK has limits

Although considered safe, LASIK comes with risks. Cutting into the cornea weakens the eye’s structure and can cause unwanted side effects. Researchers are now working on a way to reshape the cornea without any incisions at all.

Michael Hill, a professor of chemistry at Occidental College, is presenting this new work at the American Chemical Society’s Fall 2025 meeting.

“LASIK is just a fancy way of doing traditional surgery. It’s still carving tissue – it’s just carving with a laser,” said Hill. The new method asks a simple question: what if reshaping the cornea required no cutting?

Discovery of a LASIK alternative

Hill and collaborator Brian Wong, a professor and surgeon at the University of California, Irvine, are exploring electromechanical reshaping (EMR).

“The whole effect was discovered by accident. I was looking at living tissues as moldable materials and discovered this whole process of chemical modification,” noted Wong.

The team’s approach relies on the chemistry of collagen-rich tissues, which hold their shape through charged molecular bonds and high water content.

By applying an electric potential, the experts can temporarily loosen these bonds, making the tissue malleable. Restoring the original conditions then locks in the new form.

Electric reshaping on corneas

Electromechanical reshaping (EMR) was first tested on animal tissues like rabbit ears and pig skin, where it successfully reshaped cartilage and reduced scars. Because the cornea is also rich in collagen, the researchers saw it as an ideal next step.

The team designed platinum “contact lenses” that could act as electrodes, providing both a template for the desired curvature and a tool to deliver a controlled electric current.

In experiments, these lenses were placed on rabbit eyeballs immersed in a saline solution that mimicked natural tears. When a small electric charge was applied, the cornea softened and quickly molded itself to the shape of the lens.

Within just a minute, the cornea had adopted its new curvature. This was comparable in speed to LASIK surgery but did not involve cutting, required simpler tools, and avoided risks linked to incisions, making it a promising alternative for future vision correction.

Testing on rabbit eyes

The team ran trials on 12 rabbit eyeballs, simulating myopia in most of them. In every case, the treatment adjusted the focusing power toward clearer vision. The corneal cells survived, thanks to careful control of pH gradients.

Beyond vision correction, EMR showed potential in reversing certain types of corneal cloudiness. Currently, that condition can only be treated with a full transplant, making this approach especially promising.

Hurdles before human trials

Despite encouraging results, research on this LASIK alternative remains at an early stage. Wong emphasized that the next steps involve “the long march through animal studies that are detailed and precise,” including experiments on living rabbits.

The team also wants to map the full range of corrections EMR could offer, from astigmatism to farsightedness. But scientific funding uncertainties have slowed progress.

“There’s a long road between what we’ve done and the clinic. But, if we get there, this technique is widely applicable, vastly cheaper and potentially even reversible,” noted Hill.

Looking forward

If electromechanical reshaping proves successful, it could transform vision correction by eliminating the need for surgical cuts. The method uses electricity to gently reshape the cornea, offering a safer and less invasive option.

Unlike LASIK, it may lower risks and reduce costs. This innovation has the potential to make clearer vision accessible to more people while preserving the eye’s natural strength and structure.

Ultimately, the study represents a shift in how vision correction could be approached in the future.

The research was supported by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health and the John Stauffer Charitable Trust.

Click here to read full article on Earth.com.

 

LASIK without the lasers? Scientists May Have Found a Way

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California scientists have potentially created a non-invasive method of reshaping the cornea.
By  |

What if you could fix your damaged eye without having to shoot a laser at it? Scientists have potentially discovered a novel method of repairing the cornea, similar to LASIK, that wouldn’t require a laser or other invasive surgical tool.

Researchers at Occidental College and the University of California, Irvine, created the technique, which aims to temporarily make the cornea malleable. In experiments with rabbit eyeballs, their method appeared to work while also leaving corneal cells alive. More research is needed to vet the procedure, but if all goes well, it could become a preferred alternative to LASIK, the researchers claim.

“There’s a long road between what we’ve done and the clinic. But, if we get there, this technique is widely applicable, vastly cheaper and potentially even reversible,” said lead researcher Michael Hill, a professor of chemistry at Occidental College, in a statement from the American Chemical Society.

Why some people avoid LASIK

LASIK is routinely used to treat conditions like myopia, farsightedness, or astigmatism. It reshapes the cornea—the transparent, outer layer of the eye that captures and focuses light onto the retina—using a precise cutting laser.

Though generally safe and effective, the surgery does permanently weaken the structural integrity of the cornea. People will also commonly experience side effects like dry eye and visual disturbances like halos; a small few will even develop serious, if rare, complications like chronic nerve pain. Ideally, the team’s method would avoid these risks.

A potentially safer method

The technique is called electromechanical reshaping. Some of the authors had previously used it to manipulate other parts of the body that contain collagen and water, such as ears. It works by altering the pH of the tissue via short bursts of electricity, briefly allowing it to be molded as desired. Once the proper pH is restored, the tissue returns to its original rigid state.

The researchers used the technique on rabbit eyeballs in the lab, some of which were intended to represent myopia in humans. Special contact lenses made from platinum were placed over the extracted eyes. These lenses served as an electrode, providing a base for how the cornea should be correctly reshaped.

Once the researchers lightly zapped the eye, the cornea became flexible and contoured to the shape of the lens. Not only did the cornea fill out as the researchers wanted, but the procedure didn’t seem to kill any corneal cells or otherwise affect the cornea’s stability. A YouTube video describing the team’s approach, from the American Chemical Society, can be seen below.

The team’s results, presented this week at the fall conference of the American Chemical Society, are still preliminary. The researchers admit that it will take more research in animals before they can even think about testing their method in humans. Their next planned step is to try out the procedure on living rabbits.

But the potential for the team’s work is certainly there, and it may extend beyond treating myopia. The researchers are also hoping to explore whether electromechanical reshaping can help repair farsightedness, astigmatism, and possibly even some forms of cloudy vision.

Unfortunately, as has been the case for many scientists during the second Trump administration, the researchers say their work has been delayed over concerns in securing additional funding.

Click here to read full Gizmodo article.

LASIK without the laser? Rabbit eyeballs hint at a new option

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In the lab, electromechanical reshaping can reshape the cornea without cutting tissue.

Laura Baisas | Aug 23, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Figuring out a way to correct blurry vision is a part of life for many of us. In the United States alone, roughly six million people are estimated to have some sort of vision loss and another one million are totally blind.

To escape glasses and invasive contact lenses, many turn to more permanent corrective eye surgery, including the popular LASIK procedure. However, there might be a new vision correction method (that does not involve teeth) on the horizon that can do the same thing without the side effects. It was recently presented at the American Chemical Society’s annual meeting.

What is LASIK?

LASIK (or Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) is a surgical procedure that uses a laser to reshape the cornea to correct vision. Human corneas are the dome-shaped, clear structures that sit at the front of the eye. They bend incoming light and focus it onto the retina. From the retina, the light is sent to the brain and interpreted as an image. If the cornea is misshapen, it doesn’t focus on the light properly, blurring the image that the brain is trying to interpret.

During LASIK, specialized lasers remove precise sections of the tissue to reshape the cornea. It is a very common procedure and considered low risk. However, it still has some negative side-effects including eye pain, dry eyes, and seeing halos. It also has some limitations and risks since cutting the cornea can compromise the structural integrity of the eye

“LASIK is just a fancy way of doing traditional surgery. It’s still carving tissue—it’s just carving with a laser,” said Michael Hill, a professor of chemistry at Occidental College who is working on a new way to correct vision without LASIK.

Enter electromechanical reshaping

The procedure that Hill and his collaborator Brian Wong are exploring can achieve this same cornea shaping goal without making an incision. It uses a process known as electromechanical reshaping (EMR). EMR has previously been used to to reshape cartilage-rich rabbit ears and change scars and skin in pigs.

“The whole effect was discovered by accident,” explains Wong, a professor and surgeon at the University of California, Irvine. “I was looking at living tissues as moldable materials and discovered this whole process of chemical modification.”

Within the human body, collagen-containing tissues like the corneas are held together like a magnet, with oppositely charged components fusing together. These tissues contain a lot of water. Applying electric voltage to these watery tissues lowers the pH, making them more acidic. When the pH is altered, the rigid attractions within tissue loosens up and makes the shape more malleable. If the original pH is restored, the tissue locks into a new shape.

In the experimental procedure, the team constructed specialized, platinum contact lenses. The lenses provided a template for the correct cornea shape. They placed the lens over a rabbit eyeball in a saline solution meant to mimic natural tears. When the team applied a small amount of voltage, the platinum lens generated the correct pH change. After roughly 60 seconds, the cornea conformed to the shape of the lens. The procedure took about the same amount of time that LASIK takes, but with fewer steps, less expensive equipment, and no incisions into the eye.

The team repeated this setup on 12 separate rabbit eyeballs. Ten of the eyeballs that the team studied were treated as if they had myopia, or nearsightedness. In all 10 “myopic” eyeballs, vision was theoretically improved since the eye’s targeted focusing power was fixed. The cells in these test eyeballs also survived the treatment, since the pH gradient was carefully controlled.

Additionally, other experiments found that the technique may be capable of reversing some cloudiness to the cornea.

In the early stage

While promising, it’s important to remember that this work is in its very early stages. The team will next go through what Wong describes as, “the long march through animal studies that are detailed and precise.” These include tests on a living rabbit instead of just its eyeball.

The team also plans to determine the types of vision problems that are possible to correct with EMR, such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.

“There’s a long road between what we’ve done and the clinic,” says Hill. If the team can make it up to the operating room, this treatment could be less expensive and reverse blurry vision for good.

Click here to read full Popular Science article.

New Grant Supports Advanced Imaging System for Interventional Cardiology

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Aug. 20. 2025 – Principal investigator: Zhongping Chen, professor of biomedical engineering

Award: $2.5 million over four years

Funding agency:  NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Project: Development of integrated OCT/US/PAT system for intravascular Imaging

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common type of heart-related issue, affecting over 18 million adults and resulting in more than 350,000 deaths annually in recent years. This project aims to develop an advanced intravascular imaging system that combines the high spatial resolution of optical coherence tomography, the broad imaging depth of ultrasound and the high molecular sensitivity of photoacoustic tomography. This system will assist doctors in detecting high-risk areas, customizing treatments and monitoring the progression of the disease and therapeutic effectiveness. It will serve as a powerful clinical tool, offering a quantitative means to benchmark and evaluate new medical devices and therapies.

The project involves collaboration of four team members from two institutions: Zhongping Chen, Pranav Patel and Howard Lee from UCI, and Qifa Zhou from USC.

More information: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/4x5c-1ZUmUupN7ZEzJKKnA/project-details/11234720

Click here to read the announcement on the UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering website.

 

 

Laser-free vision correction uses electrical current to reshape eye

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ANI Published on August 20, 2025 at 04:11 PM IST
Washington DC [US], August 20 (ANI/ WAM): Researchers have developed a potential alternative to LASIK surgery that corrects vision without the use of lasers. The new method, called electromechanical reshaping (EMR), uses electrical currents and a platinum contact lens to alter the shape of the cornea.

The technique was presented during a meeting of the American Chemical Society by a team led by Michael Hill, professor of chemistry at Occidental College. EMR relies on generating pH changes in collagen-containing tissues such as the cornea, making them temporarily malleable.

In experiments involving rabbits, the team used a platinum “contact lens” in the shape of a corrected cornea as a way to generate precise pH changes in the animal’s tissues.

Roughly a minute later, around the time it takes to perform LASIK, the rabbit’s cornea conformed to the contact lens — but with fewer steps and no incisions, according to the researchers.

The team successfully improved the shape of eyeballs, which were treated as if they had myopia, or nearsightedness, in ten out of 12 rabbit eyeballs.

According to the team, EMR could address conditions such as myopia and may also treat chemical-induced cloudiness, which usually requires a corneal transplant.

Brian Wong, professor at the University of California, Irvine, said the effect was discovered by accident while studying tissue modification. Hill noted that further detailed animal studies will be required before any clinical use, but added that the approach could prove more affordable and potentially reversible compared with current methods.

“There’s a long road between what we’ve done and the clinic,” said Hill in the statement. “But, if we get there, this technique is widely applicable, vastly cheaper and potentially even reversible.” (ANI/ WAM)

Click here to read full article on The Economic Times Healthworld.com.

 

Scientists Testing New LASIK-Like System That Doesn’t Use a Laser on Eyeball

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 / by Victor Tangermann
“The Whole Effect Was Discovered by Accident.”

Researchers have come up with a potentially groundbreaking — and entirely laser-free — alternative to LASIK, a popular surgical procedure that uses high-power lasers to reshape the cornea to correct vision problems.

During a meeting of the American Chemical Society, a team of scientists led by Occidental College chemistry professor Michael Hill showed off a new approach, called “electromechanical reshaping” (EMR), that uses small jolts of electricity and a molded platinum “contact lens” to reshape the cornea.

While we’re still many years away from being able to tell if the new technique will be a viable alternative to LASIK, there are reasons to be optimistic. LASIK surgery, which has been around for decades, can have rare but negative side effects including dry eyes or — in extreme cases — vision loss or infection.

EMR could greatly simplify the process without relying on invasive surgery, the scientists say, and potentially lower costs as well.

“The whole effect was discovered by accident,” said team member and University of California, Irvine, professor Brian Wong in a statement. “I was looking at living tissues as moldable materials and discovered this whole process of chemical modification.”

Research has shown that adjusting the pH of collagen-containing tissues in the body, such as corneas, allows them to become temporarily malleable.

Hill and his colleagues previously demonstrated that EMR can be used to alter the shape of rabbit ears, for example, and even scar tissues in pigs.

In experiments involving rabbits, the team used a platinum “contact lens” in the shape of a corrected cornea as a way to generate precise pH changes in the animal’s tissues.

Roughly a minute later, around the time it takes to perform LASIK, the rabbit’s cornea conformed to the contact lens — but with fewer steps and no incisions, according to the researchers.

The team successfully improved the shape of eyeballs, which were treated as if they had myopia, or nearsightedness, in ten out of 12 rabbit eyeballs.

The team suggests the new technique could reverse common reasons why patients choose to undergo LASIK, including nearsightedness.

It could even reverse chemical-caused cloudiness, which conventionally can only be treated through a complete corneal transplant.

Despite promising results — for all but two bunnies, at least — we’re still many years away from determining if EMR can become a viable alternative to LASIK.

In the statement, Wong explained that he and his colleagues are gearing up for a “long march through animal studies that are detailed and precise.”

The team is also struggling with finding the required scientific funding.

“There’s a long road between what we’ve done and the clinic,” said Hill in the statement. “But, if we get there, this technique is widely applicable, vastly cheaper and potentially even reversible.”

Click here to read full article on the Neoscope website.

Laser-free vision correction uses electrical current to reshape eye

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By Bronwyn Thompson
August 19, 2025

Imagine correcting your vision in under a minute – no lasers, blades or pain. Scientists have developed a novel, non-invasive technique that reshapes the cornea using only a mild electric current and a temporary pH shift. In early trials, it reversed myopia without the need for traditional surgery – and could be the most radical advancement in eyesight correction technology since LASIK.

This emerging method that can remodel the cornea through mild electric potential, known as electromechanical reshaping (EMR), was detailed by researchers from Occidental College and the University of California, Irvine, during the American Chemical Society’s Fall 2025 meeting this week.

The cornea is the clear, dome-shaped surface at the front of the eye, acting as a transparent window that helps focus incoming light. It’s made of tightly packed collagen fibers and is designed to be strong and smooth. When light enters the eye, the cornea is the first lens it hits – and it’s here that most of light-bending (refraction) occurs in order to focus the light onto the retina at the rear of the eye. However, if the cornea has an irregular curve, it results in conditions such as nearsightedness (myopia) and farsightedness (hyperopia).

For those who want do do away with corrective lenses, the main option is LASIK (Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) surgery, which uses a laser to reshape the cornea by removing microscopic amounts of tissue beneath a thin flap, allowing light to focus properly on the retina. While, for those suitable for treatment, LASIK has a high success rate – around 95% of patients go on to ditch their glasses only a few days after recovering from surgery – it’s expensive and invasive, and cutting into the cornea alters the structural integrity of the eye.

“LASIK is just a fancy way of doing traditional surgery,” said lead researcher and presenter Michael Hill, a professor in chemistry at Occidental College. “It’s still carving tissue – it’s just carving with a laser.”

What Hill and colleagues propose is instead working with the composition of the cornea to reshape the dome without removing any material from it. Made primarily of collagen, the cornea maintains its shape thanks to the arrangement of charged molecules and proteins. The researchers discovered that by applying a low-level electrical current through a specially designed platinum “contact lens” electrode, they could change the pH of the tissue, increasing the acidity of the corneal tissue, which would make it pliable just long enough to reshape – like fitting something into a mold. In this case, the mold is the platinum lens.

Then, once the current stops and the pH returns to normal, the cornea hardens again and holds its mold-fitted shape. The whole process takes about a minute, requires no cutting or removal of tissue, and, so far, has shown no structural damage or cell death in the tested samples. And the researchers believe EMR could replace LASIK surgery.

“The whole effect was discovered by accident,” said Brian Wong, a professor and surgeon at the University of California, Irvine. “I was looking at living tissues as moldable materials and discovered this whole process of chemical modification.”

In the study, researchers tested the EMR process on 12 separate rabbit eyeballs, reshaping 10 of them to mimic the corrective effect required for nearsightedness (myopia). After a short exposure to the current, each cornea conformed to the shape built into the electrode “lens”, and preliminary measurements showed successful corneal correction – with zero incisions, lasers or trauma to the eye.

While EMR is still in its early stages of development and has had limited testing – on isolated eyes, not live models – Wong added that next comes “the long march through animal studies that are detailed and precise.” The team will also determine what type of cornea corrections are possible with EMR.

“There’s a long road between what we’ve done and the clinic [and commercial use],” Hill added. “But, if we get there, this technique is widely applicable, vastly cheaper and potentially even reversible.”

A 2023 paper in the journal ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering detailed the development and use of EMR. The latest research was presented in a series of talks by researchers Michael Hill, Daniel Kim and Michelle Chen at the Fall 2025 meeting of the American Chemical Society this week.

Source: American Chemical Society via EurekAlert!

Click here to read full article on the New Atlas website.

Researchers discovered by accident a possible alternative to LASIK surgery

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Researchers say they’ve found a potentially cheaper and less invasive option – but it’s a long way from being ready to implement

Julia Musto in New York | Tuesday 19 August 2025 16:24 BST

LASIK eye surgery has been performed successfully in the U.S. since the late 90s, helping nearly 40 million patients to improve their vision through a procedure that cuts into the eye using lasers. Some 600,000 of the Food and Drug Administration-approved surgeries are carried out on American adults each year.

Now, researchers say they have come up with an alternative method that wouldn’t need invasive incisions and could be cheaper.

It uses a process called electromechanical reshaping, which helps to reshape the cornea using electrical current. The cornea is a dome-shaped, clear structure at the front of the eye that helps us to process images. Irregularly shaped corneas are the cause of nearsighted and farsighted vision and astigmatism, and LASIK fixes that by burning away tissue to reshape it.

“The whole effect was discovered by accident,” Brian Wong, a professor and surgeon at the University of California, Irvine, explained in a statement. “I was looking at living tissues as moldable materials and discovered this whole process of chemical modification.”

While the work is in its early stages, it could offer an alternative to LASIK. Although the surgery has been safely performed for nearly 30 years with rare complications, it has some limitations and risks. The surgeons say that cutting the cornea compromises the structural integrity of the eye.

This procedure has yet to be performed in humans, but researchers previously used electromechanical reshaping to alter scars and skin in pigs and reshape cartilage-rich rabbit ears.

Working with rabbit eyeballs, they constructed platinum “contact lenses” that served as a template for the corrected shape of the cornea, placing them over a rabbit eyeball in a saline solution meant to mimic natural tears. After about a minute following a small electric charge to the lens, the cornea’s curvature conformed to the shape of the lens. That happened in the same amount of time as LASIK, with fewer steps, no incisions, and less expensive equipment.

Then, they repeated the step on 12 other rabbit eyeballs. Of those dozen, 10 were treated as if they had nearsighted vision, and the researchers found success. In others, they saw that their technique might be able to reverse some chemical-caused cloudiness to the cornea, which is currently only treatable through a complete transplant of the cornea.

In the future, the researchers are planning tests on living rabbits, and looking at far-sightedness and astigmatism. Uncertainties in the team’s scientific funding have put those plans on hold, but Michael Hill, a professor of chemistry at Occidental College, will present their findings this week at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society.

“There’s a long road between what we’ve done and the clinic. But, if we get there, this technique is widely applicable, vastly cheaper and potentially even reversible,” said Hill.

Click here to read full article on The Independent website.