Every year, hundreds of thousands of Americans get laser eye surgery to correct vision problems like nearsightedness or astigmatism.
The most well-known method, LASIK, uses a laser to cut and reshape the cornea — the clear front surface of the eye.
Although LASIK is considered safe and effective, it still involves cutting into the eye, which can lead to complications or long-term side effects.
Now, scientists are exploring a new method that might one day correct vision without needing surgery or lasers. Researchers Michael Hill from Occidental College and Brian Wong from the University of California, Irvine, have developed a technique called electromechanical reshaping, or EMR.
Instead of cutting tissue, this technique uses a small electric current to change the shape of the cornea. Their findings were shared at the American Chemical Society’s Fall 2025 meeting.
The cornea helps focus light onto the retina at the back of the eye, which allows us to see clearly. But if the cornea is misshapen, it can’t bend light correctly, resulting in blurry vision.
With LASIK, a laser removes tiny pieces of tissue to reshape the cornea and correct vision. EMR takes a different approach. It works by changing the chemical environment of the tissue — especially the pH, which measures how acidic or basic something is.
Tissues like the cornea contain a lot of collagen, and collagen fibers are held in place by electric charges that attract each other.
When a small electrical current is applied, it changes the pH and temporarily loosens these attractions, making the tissue soft and flexible. Once the desired shape is achieved, the pH is restored to normal, and the tissue hardens into the new shape.
To test this method, the researchers made special contact lenses out of platinum, which also served as electrodes. These lenses were placed on rabbit eyeballs in a solution that mimics natural tears.
When a gentle electrical current was applied for about one minute, the cornea took on the shape of the lens. This quick process reshaped the cornea without any cutting, similar in speed to LASIK but much less invasive and possibly more affordable.
They tested the technique on 12 rabbit eyes, 10 of which were treated as if they had nearsightedness. In all 10, the treatment adjusted the focusing power of the eye, suggesting that the method could correct vision.
Importantly, the eye cells survived the process, and the researchers were careful to control the chemical changes to avoid damage. In other experiments, the team even showed that their technique might reverse cloudy corneas caused by chemical damage — a condition usually treated with a full cornea transplant.
The researchers are still in the early stages. Their next steps include testing the method in living rabbits and figuring out whether it can correct other vision problems like farsightedness or astigmatism. However, their progress depends on funding, which has currently delayed further research.
While more work is needed, the potential of this method is exciting. It could lead to a cheaper, safer, and possibly reversible alternative to laser eye surgery. Instead of carving the eye, we may one day be able to reshape it with electricity and chemistry alone.
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