Body Hack XIX: Changing Eye Color From Brown To Blue Permanently Using Quick Laser Treatment Without Surgery

6a00d8341bf67c53ef015392e527f7970b-800wiI was reading through the science articles recently when I came through an article which talks about innovative medical innovations on the science of the eye. The BBC, Discovery Magazine, Washington Post, and other sources all have been able to pick up this story of the fact that a optic physician from California, a Dr. Gregg Homer, says that he has managed to create a type of laser that  can in only 20 seconds remove the pigmentation from a person’s iris.

From our high school biology books, we remember that the pigmentation from our eyes comes from some type of compound or protein called melanin. The melanin is what gives over 50% of the human world the color brown in their iris. Apparently only a small percentage of the world has what is traditionally blue eyes. However the blue hue or color in the iris is really just behind the brown pigment. All that the laser he has developed does is zap away the outer brown coloring to reveal the blue color underneath.

All the articles I have found say that the procedure will take either 20 seconds or 1 minute. The procedure is supposed to be painless, and the transformation from brown to blue eyes takes about 2-3 weeks, after the brown pigment is blasted away and degenerated. The blue color will apparently naturally remove the pigment. The cost of this cosmetic procedure will take about $5000 for each person. Currently, there is only one such process, from brown to blue. For black, green, hazel, and other colors of the eyes, there is no treatment found yet.

The article I decided to copy and post below is from the Discovery Magazine link…

New Procedure Would Turn Your Brown Eyes Blue

NOV 8, 2011 11:03 AM ET // BY MARIANNE ENGLISH

If you had the option to change your eye color — would you?

Now think about the question again, this time under two conditions: you’d have to pay $5,000 and undergo brief laser surgery. Would you still do it?

It’s obvious many people’s answer would flip. But one doctor thinks his method will attract a following. Gregg Homer, a California doctor, says he’s worked 10 years to perfect a laser treatment that can irreversibly turn brown eyes blue.

Homer believes that the eyes are the “window to the soul,” with blue being a preferred hue that looks less opaque than darker colors. In essence, he says, blue eyes allow others to look more deeply into them.

Here’s how the “20-second long” laser procedure works: A computer scans the iris and uses a laser to disrupt the brown pigment on the surface of the eye. Since blue pigment lies beneath the brown pigment, removing the outer layer of melanin can reveal a bluer look behind it. Since the brown pigment is damaged and will not regenerate, Homer says, the eye removes it naturally, according to one BBC article. Between two and three weeks later, the pigment lightens up, eventually transforming brown eyes to blue.

While addressing questions about the risks associated with the procedure, Homer told KTLA, a news station in Los Angeles, that he uses 15 “sophisticated” tests to ensure that no tissues are damaged. But in the very next sentence, he says, “Is it possible that something comes down the road? It’s possible.”

Unless the video was edited completely out of context, the previous statement suggests that Homer does not know the long-term effects of his laser treatment — a glaring problem other doctors point out in one ABC News article.

One NYU eye specialist, Robert Cykiert, told ABC News that the procedure is “probably risky.” He also said:

“When you burn the brown pigment away with a laser, the debris that is created in the front of the eye — think of it as ashes resulting from burning anything — is likely to clog up the microscopic channels in the front of the eye, known as trabecular meshwork,” said Cykiert. “ is very likely to cause a high pressure in the eye, known as glaucoma.”

Ironically, one of the treatments for glaucoma is more surgery.

So far, Homer says he has worked on the technique in animals, cadavers and human participants in Mexico. The method, called Lumineyes has been launched under Homer’s business, Stroma Medical Corporation (as of November 2011, neither site lists anything other than an email address).

He estimates the procedure will be available outside the United States in as few as 18 months, while it may take longer to gain approval in the states.

Also, it appears the technology only works to change from brown to blue, not other colors. Homer writes in one of his first patents that color eye contacts as well as implants aren’t permanent enough for people desiring pretty blues.

Photo by Dottie Mae/Flickr.com

2 thoughts on “Body Hack XIX: Changing Eye Color From Brown To Blue Permanently Using Quick Laser Treatment Without Surgery”

  1. katarzyna

    hello I am a polka and interested in whether you can perform such an operation on a 3-year child please reply;((((

  2. Alexis Mc Geachy

    I would like to be informed as soon as this procedure is available to the public. I would travel to any country to have it done.
    Thank you very much.
    Sincerely,
    IM

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