The medical device industry often points to the booming success of laser surgery for vision correction as an example of the extent to which consumers will pay up for elective surgical procedures that enhance quality of life. In the US each year, one million patients with mild to moderate nearsightedness undergo a laser-assisted corneal sculpting procedure called LASIK at prices that range from $1500-2200 per eye, for the convenience of being able to go about their daily lives without wearing spectacles. Revenues from LASIK approach $2 billion. But in terms of what's possible in refractive surgery, the LASIK market only scratches the surface. An even larger untapped opportunity exists in presbyopia, the inability to focus up close that is an inevitable consequence of aging.
Presbyopia begins to become apparent in one's early forties. One day, all of a sudden a person realizes he or...
