Eyeball Implant
(Michael Kooren/Reuters)
- "It is of all times for people to wear jewelry. Earrings, make-up and more recently tattoos and piercings are accepted forms of body cosmetics. Surprisingly, no jewelry is available for the organ that is most important in social interactions, the eye."
- —NIIOS, Cosmetic Extraocular Implant PR
It is now possible to place an eyeball implant into the surface of the white of the eye. Not only is it possible, but, at least in the Netherlands (where euthanasia is also allowed), it is a legal procedure offered by eye clinics under the brand name JewelEye.
From the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery's website:
- In 2002 the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery developed an implant that can be implanted within the superficial, interpalpebral conjunctiva. The implant does not interfere with the ocular functions, ie the visual performance and motility. The implant is made of a specially designed material that can be molded in all kinds of desired shapes and sizes.
Current shapes available include:
- Heart
- Star
- Eurosign
- Four-leaved clover
- Music note
Specifics
(Michael Kooren/Reuters)
Gerrit Melles, the director of the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery which developed the procedure two years ago says,
- In my view, it is a little more subtle than (body) piercing. It is a bit of a fun thing and a very personal thing for people. Without doing any harm to the eye, we can implant a jewel in the conjunctiva. So far, we have not seen any side effects or complications, and we don't expect any in the future.
The jewelry itself is of a platinum alloy about 1/8" across, and having it inserted is done under a local anesthetic starting at about $750. The procedure takes about 15 minutes. As of this entry's writing, seven implants of this type have been performed, and the clinic claims to have a waiting list of people wanting more.
At this stage, JewelEye implants are only available in the Netherlands, where the jewelry can only be implanted by a registered ophthalmologist (under sterile conditions, of course).
Two clinics that provide the service:
- Cornea Clinic, Rotterdam, Laan op Zuid, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, phone +31 10 485 4882
- Oogzorgcentrum Driebergen, Traaij 42, 3971 GP Driebergen, The Netherlands, phone +31 343 522 193 or +31 343 516 718
See Also
External Links
- Eyeball Implants on BME
- JewelEye (Sung to the tune of Goldfinger)
- Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery (in English, with videos of the procedure)
- Hippocratech, who make the JewelEye implants
