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SINGAPORE – Media OutReach<\/a> – 3 March 2021 <\/b>– Cordlife Group Limited<\/a>, a consumer healthcare company
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The
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Ms
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Myopia
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Newer
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Presbyopia
“Almost
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\nannounced today that the Ministry of Health has issued a license permitting the
\nCompany to launch OptiQ, a corneal lenticule banking service in Singapore.
\nCordlife is the first company in Asia to let patients undergoing refractive eye
\nsurgery using lenticule extraction method (e.g. SMILE) for myopia or
\nastigmatism to \u00a0cryopreserve their
\ncorneal lenticules for potential treatment of presbyopia and other ocular
\nconditions in the future.<\/p>\n
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\ntechnology behind OptiQ was invented by Professors Donald Tan and Jodhbir Mehta
\nfrom Singapore Eye Research Institute (“SERI”), the research arm of Singapore
\nNational Eye Centre (“SNEC”). <\/p>\n
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\nTan Poh Lan, Cordlife’s Group Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director,
\nsaid: “Cordlife has accumulated 20 years of experience in the banking of
\nbiological materials so offering the storage of corneal lenticules is a natural
\nextension of our services.”<\/p>\n
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\nis an extremely common refractive error in Singapore with 82 percent of the
\n20-year-olds suffering from this condition — one of the highest in East Asia.<\/p>\n
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\nflapless refractive surgical procedures, such as SMILE can correct myopia or
\nastigmatism by extracting a tiny lenticule from each eye of the patient using a
\nfemtosecond laser. Presently, corneal lenticules extracted during such
\nsurgeries are routinely thrown away. Early animal and human studies have
\nshown that corneal lenticules may help to correct presbyopia and hyperopia
\n(longsightedness) as well as certain ocular conditions.<\/p>\n
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\nis an age-related condition in which the eyes gradually lose the ability to
\nfocus on objects clearly at close range. Currently, patients treat presbyopia
\nusing reading glasses, contact lenses, or artificial inlay implantation but
\nthis last method carries risks such as corneal inflammation, scarring and haze.
\nBy implanting corneal lenticules, such risks can be reduced and the rate of
\nrejection will also be marginal due to inherent superior biocompatibility. Once
\nlenticule implantation is approved as a standard of care, patients who have
\nstored their own lenticules will have additional vision correction options.<\/p>\n
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\neveryone will have presbyopia after the age of 40. We believe this advancement
\nin ophthalmology can help a lot of people and even bring healthcare in
\nSingapore to the next level,” Professor Mehta of SERI added.<\/p>\n
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