Dr. Roy Chuck, MD, PhD., Professor and Paul Henkind Chair of Montefiore Einstein Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Montefiore Einstein, is no stranger to translational innovation.  Amongst the world’s most innovative and respected clinician-scientists and keratorefractive surgeons, Dr. Chuck has brought his decades of clinical and research acumen to the Bronx over the past 15 years. As a co-founder and medical advisor for TECLens, Dr. Chuck continues to help bring forth yet another incredible innovation to patients suffering from progressive visual disorders resulting from corneal pathology.  Keratoconus is a potentially blinding condition that is characterized by progressive thinning of the cornea resulting in often disabling irregular astigmatism.  Left uncorrected, patients experiencing vision loss may ultimately require highly invasive corneal transplantation surgery to regain function, a procedure that can take many months to recover from and is characterized by high levels of complication and treatment failure.  Corneal crosslinking, a drug and device solution a version of which was approved for use in the US in 2016, involves administration of a topical vitamin (riboflavin) and low level ultraviolet (UV) light.  Crosslinking has rapidly become the standard of care for many patients experiencing disease progression but is not without risk itself.  Unlike traditional crosslinking, the TECLens device, which is currently in advanced clinical trials, allows corneal surgeons to spare painful and dangerous removal of the protective corneal epithelium by using a proprietary light-emitting contact lens to deliver the UV therapy in a highly controlled way.  This innovative device furthermore potentially allows both eyes to be treated in the same session and has significant benefits for both patients and surgeons alike, most important of which is the promise of safer healing and a virtually painless recovery in a fraction of the time.  The seminal pilot study from TECLens has helped spawn tremendous global interest with industrial funding of the TECLens to be announced imminently.  Dr. Chuck’s laboratory and affiliations continue to provide Einstein medical students and Montefiore ophthalmology residents unparalleled opportunities to be at the absolute forefront of translational research, literally from the bench to the clinic.

Pilot Study link: 
https://tvst.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2772544

External Link: https://teclens.com