IRVINE – Two UC Irvine ophthalmologists are the first Orange County surgeons to implant miniature telescopes in the eyes of patients with end-stage, age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness among older Americans, the university announced Monday.

The device restores a portion of vision lost to the disease.

Dr. Marjan Farid implanted the 4-millimeter telescope in the left eye of an 85-year-old Irvine woman. Dr. Sumit “Sam” Garg implanted the device in a 94-year-old Anaheim resident’s right eye.

UC Irvine’s Gavin Herbert Eye Institute is among only a few locations nationwide to offer the new technology.

Macular degeneration damages the retina and causes a blind spot in the center of a person’s field of vision, according to Garg, medical director of the Gavin eye center. The telescope projects an image onto an undamaged portion of the retina, making it possible for patients to recognize faces, read and perform daily activities, he added.

“Until now, there has been no mechanism, surgical or medical, to restore that central sight,” said Farid, UC Irvine director of cornea, cataract and refractive surgery. “These patients are now experiencing a quality of life that they’ve not enjoyed in many years. My patient is seeing her son’s face for the first time in more than a decade.”

After surgery, implant patients work with the vision specialists to retrain their brain to recognize images projected through the device, UCI said.

Clinical trials demonstrated that the implant, in addition to improved vision, increases patients’ independence, according to UCI’s announcement. It also aids social interaction by making visible the facial expressions of family and friends.

The Food & Drug Administration approved the miniature telescope last year for use in patients with irreversible end-stage macular degeneration. At least 15 million Americans are affected by some form of the disease, UCI said. The implant device, which is covered by Medicare, is integral to CentraSight, a new patient-care program developed by VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies.

In addition to cornea surgeons Garg and Farid, the CentraSight team includes Gavin Herbert Eye Institute retina experts Dr. Baruch Kuppermann and Dr. Stephanie Lu as well was vision specialists at Southern California College of Optometry.

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