It is a condition that will affect all of us in time. Presbyopia – known in colloquial Chinese as “lau hua yen” – begins its gradual progress when one reaches the early 40s and peaks at around 65 years of age.

“Presbyopia is a natural ageing condition of the eye that affects everyone. The human eye is like an autofocus camera. As you age, your eye muscles become weaker and the lens in your eyes loses its autofocus ability,” said Professor Donald Tan, Medical Director and Head of Corneal Service, Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC).

The impact of presbyopia on daily life can be quite disturbing, especially for those who already have vision problems. The inability to see far but not near objects can be frustrating and simple tasks like reading the time off a watch becomes difficult.

“Presbyopia prevents you from performing daily normal activities such as reading the newspaper or an SMS on your mobile phone. Basically, it can compromise a person’s quality of life,” said Prof Tan.

However, middle-aged individuals need not be resigned to this, because there are solutions for presbyopia.

The simplest way around the problem is to go to an optician and commission a pair of reading spectacles. For those who are already wearing glasses, they will probably have to switch to more expensive progressive lenses, or have different pairs of glasses to address different conditions.

But this option does not arrest the condition and those affected will need to have their eyes periodically reviewed and their reading glasses adjusted every few years.

The good news is that a more permanent and convenient alternative is now available: a corneal implant called KAMRA.

Introduced in June last year, KAMRA is placed within the cornea in a procedure similar to LASIK, but without the laser correction. It is safe and takes only 15 minutes.

“This implant is a major technological breakthrough, and appears to be the most successful treatment for presbyopia today, greatly reducing the need for reading glasses. Using the latest bladeless LASIK technology with a femtosecond laser, the surgeon simply lasers a flap on the cornea, places the tiny implant in the centre of the cornea and replaces the flap,” said Prof Tan.

The tiny device, made of high-grade medical plastic, is almost invisible to the naked eye. It only needs to be implanted in one eye as the brain adapts and automatically switches to use the eye with the implant for near work and reading activities. No stitching is required.

The best part is that unlike other implants, this one can be removed and replaced when newer, “upgraded” versions become available.

The improvement to vision is almost immediate. Some patients are able to tell the difference after just one day. The majority notice major improvement within a week, and reading ability continues to improve with time as one adjusts to the implant.

Currently, this procedure is only carried out in a few countries, as limited stock of the implant is available. In Asia, SNEC is the first and only centre outside Japan that offers this treatment.

According to Prof Tan, the implant, which has CE certification, has been shown to be safe in the eye, and surgical complications are very rare. Costing about $3,600, it is a simple day procedure and patients can return to work in a couple of days. To date, 70 patients have undergone the treatment at SNEC with an excellent efficacy profile.

For those with presbyopia as well as myopia and/or astigmatism, SNEC now offers combined treatment in the form of bladeless LASIK in both eyes to treat the myopia and/or astigmatism, and KAMRA implantation in one eye to treat the presbyopia. Patients who have opted for this “3-in-one” surgery, have been very satisfied. They now enjoy far- and near- distance vision without glasses.

The corneal implant reduces blurred vision when viewing near objects, as light rays pass through the small aperture over a small angle, which increases depth of focus. The implant is about 3.8mm in diameter – much smaller than a contact lens – and about a tenth of the thickness of a sheet of paper.