ABSTRACT
A. BACKGROUND The intracorneal segments (ICS) for hyperopia reshape the anterior surface of the cornea without permanently changing the structure or function of the natural eye and are intended to be an alternative to eyeglasses, contact lenses, or irreversible refractive surgery procedures for hyperopic patients. The radially placed segments create a flattening of the peripheral cornea by shortening the chord length tangential to the limbus. This peripheral flattening causes the central cornea to steepen and the corneal radius to decrease, thus correcting for hyperopia (Fig. 1). Implantation of the segments does not involve the central cornea and no tissue is removed. In addition, the cornea maintains its asphericity and normal prolate shape when the segments are implanted-an advantage also reported for the intrastromal corneal ring segments for myopia (Intacs) (1,2).
