When patients hear plastic surgery, some of the procedures that immediately come to mind are breast implants, buttock enhancements and nose jobs. But what about changing the eye color of a patient permanently? About 17\\% of the world’s population has blue eyes. There are colored contact lenses available but technology has not advanced enough for them be a permanent solution or for them to be convincing enough for up-close photography of the eyes. The truth is anyone who has brown eyes essentially has blue eyes as well. The only difference is that there is a brown pigment layer which is preventing the color blue from being expressed. The “Stroma procedure”, also known as “change your brown eyes to blue using laser,” is designed to remove the layer of brown pigmentation to allow the light entering the retina to only reflect the color blue.
Origin of Stroma Laser Eye Procedure
This non-invasive laser treatment was developed by an American company known as Str?ma Medical. The Str?ma Medical Corporation was founded back in 2009 in California and the ultimate result from their treatment is to turn brown eyes to blue. The company hopes to develop the safest, cheapest and most convenient procedure available on the market but it has yet to gain approval from regulatory bodies in the United States. The company’s medical board has stated that preliminary studies show that the surgery is safe but only a small number of patients have undergone the procedure so there isn't enough data to fully substantiate their claims.
How Stroma Laser Eye Procedure Works
The laser procedure works by eliminating the melanin (the pigment that also colors hair and skin) from the surface of the iris. After the melanin in the iris is eliminated, light is then allowed to enter and scatter in the stroma AKA the fibers seen in light-colored eyes. The effect is similar to Rayleigh scattering in which wavelengths of sunlight hit much smaller molecules in the air and then scatter to make the atmosphere appear blue.
“The fundamental principle is that under every brown eye is a blue eye,” Dr. Gregg Homer told CNN back in 2015. He added that there is no actual blue pigmentation in the eye. “The only difference between a brown eye and a blue eye is this very thin layer of pigment on the surface. If you take that pigment away, then the light can enter the stroma – the little fibers that look like bicycle spokes in a light eye – and when the light scatters it only reflects back the shortest wavelengths, and that’s the blue end of the spectrum.”
The laser treatment disrupts the fragile layer of pigment on the iris which causes the body to start removing the tissue naturally. While the procedure itself only takes around 20 seconds, the blue eyes do not emerge for several weeks as the body can only gradually release the pigment. According to Dr. Homer, there is a chance of injury with this laser but its energy level is very low and it only treats the iris. It doesn't enter any part of the eye where the nerves that influence vision are located.
Keeping a Close Eye on Stroma Laser Eye Procedure
The Stroma procedure has only about 20 patients under its belt. In fact, this procedure is not even available to the general public yet. It is still undergoing strict medical scrutiny from doctors to ensure that any side effects are identified while at the same time monitoring the long-term effectiveness of the treatment. The main concern is that the procedure could clog up the eye’s drainage channels and cause an increase in its internal pressure which can eventually result in pigmentary glaucoma.
Unlike the laser used in corrective eye surgery, Stroma laser is specifically designed to target the iris. This is where a lot of the controversy lies since there is absolutely no data yet on what can happen when the iris is treated with a laser. At the same time, there is also no direct evidence as to whether this procedure damages the iris itself.
Furthermore, the results will not be instantaneous. The procedure itself takes less than one minute but it will take weeks for the body to remove the unwanted pigments to reveal the new and improved blue eyes.
Potential Risks of Stroma Laser Eye Procedure
The medical industry and ophthalmologists in particular, are not particularly supportive of the procedure. Their skepticism is based on the fact that the eyes are one of the most sensitive organs in the human body and that the procedure is irreversible.
One of the major concerns is that the laser procedure releases the melanin pigment inside the eye where it can clog up the drainage channels of the organ. This could increase ocular pressure and eventually lead to the development of glaucoma. However, Stroma Medical claims that the particles released by the procedure are too small to clog the channels.
There are several other factors that raise concerns including:
Only time will tell how effective and safe this procedure really is. If it does get the approval it needs to be commercially available, it will be fascinating to see what type of patient is interested in having the treatment. It remains to be seen if, and when, the Stroma Laser Procedure will be available to a mass audience.
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