Laser surgery for eye color change
In the United States, a company called STRŌMA Medical Corp. is testing a laser procedure that it says can change someone’s eye color from brown to hazel, lighter brown, gray, blue or green. STRŌMA says patients who have been treated in clinical trials usually achieve the desired color change after three or four treatments. The effects appear to be permanent, the company says.
So far, the noninvasive STRŌMA procedure isn’t publicly available anywhere in the world. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would need to approve the procedure before it’s widely performed in the United States.
STRŌMA says it will seek approval for the procedure in other countries before pursuing FDA approval in the United States. The company’s clinical trials are designed to gauge the safety and effectiveness of the procedure.
Laser eye color change surgery cost
According to STRŌMA, ophthalmologists that are licensed to perform the procedure will set their own prices. STRŌMA estimates that for U.S. patients, three or four laser treatments would cost a total of $5,500 to $6,000.
How laser eye color surgery works
The STRŌMA procedure uses a low-energy laser beam that passes through the clear cornea of the eye and slightly heats the brown pigment on the front surface of the iris, the colored part of the eye. This heating starts a process that removes the brown pigment and reveals the underlying blue or green eye.
Because of how the eye is structured, a patient can’t choose the desired eye color. However, STRŌMA says it can accurately predict what the underlying color will be.
“Once the pigment is removed, the underlying color appears gray-blue or gray-green, which is preferred by most patients because it reflects more light and creates a more striking appearance,” the company says. “If the patient wants a deeper shade of blue or green, a special saturation treatment can be performed.”
