Conductive Keratoplasty (CK)

Conductive Keratoplasty (CK) is a treatment for farsightedness (hyperopia) and presbyopia. Like LASIK and alternative procedures such as PRK and Epi-LASIK, it works by reshaping the cornea. But unlike those procedures, it does not use a laser. Instead, it uses radio waves.

It also involves no corneal flap, but is done on the corneal surface. This makes for fewer possible complications, since most LASIK complications are related to the corneal flap.

Comparing Hyperopia and Presbyopia

These two vision problems are similar in that they both involve blurriness of near vision. But they have different causes:

Hyperopia occurs when the cornea is too flat for the length (front to back) of the eye. A hyperopic eye does not refract (bend) incoming light enough to give clear close-up vision. The light cannot focus on the retina and instead focuses behind it. Hyperopia is not age-related.
Presbyopia occurs after age 40 or 50 because the eye’s lens becomes progressively less able to change its curvature. It remains flat enough to give good distance vision but cannot become steep enough to give clear close-up vision. Reading glasses become necessary.

How CK Works

Your eye surgeon will direct radio frequency energy to specific areas in a ring around the corneal edge. This causes tiny areas of shrinkage in the corneal tissue like tightening a belt. The effect is to steepen the corneal curvature. This increases its focusing power and it will now be able to refract light more and make it focus on the retina.

The procedure takes just a few minutes for each eye. Your eyes are numbed with anesthetic eyedrops first, and the radio energy is delivered through a probe thinner than a human hair.

CK Recovery

You may have some slight discomfort for a day or two following the procedure – a sensation of something being in your eyes. There might be some extra tear production. But recovery is quick and the great majority of people need no glasses or contact lenses after CK. Most people notice instant improvement in their vision, although full vision improvement may take several weeks.

If you are farsighted and also developing presbyopia, CK is an excellent way to improve your vision for both conditions. Another good procedure for presbyopia and astigmatism is LTK (Laser Thermal Keratoplasty), which uses a laser instead of radio waves.

To find an eye surgeon in your area with CK surgery experience, please visit our Eye Surgeon Directory.