Ocular prosthesis

An eye prosthesis, commonly called also glass eye or plastic eye is a complex made ​​as a cosmetic eye replacement tool which is used exclusively for the restoration of facial aesthetics and medical care of the enucleated eye socket. Eye prostheses are of extensively trained and tested Augenprothetikern ( Okularisten ) from special Kryolithglas or plastic made ​​and customized.

Production

The specialists who have mastered this production have a long apprenticeship of 6 to 7 years, which requires great artistic talent and manual skills. They are called eye artists, art eyes manufacturer, Augenprothetiker or Okularisten. In Germany ocular prostheses are made entirely by hand for over 150 years. In Germany takes with regard to the production of ocular prostheses, the Thuringian town of Lauscha, with its factories since the mid 19th century, played a leading role. Here also the first German glass eye 1835 was prepared ( See: glass eye from Lauscha ).

The artificial eye has color and detail on the remaining healthy eye made ​​during manufacture in the form of a blown from a piece of pipe and hollow sphere is, so that you can speak in both senses of an art eye. Every detail of the iris, the color of the sclera ( sclera ), as well as the individual for each person structure of the conjunctival vessels, applied by means of melting, even multicolored glass rods at the artificial eye by swabbing, wiping and applying thread. The viscous glass ball has a tendency to contract by the surface tension, the pipe must be constantly rotated. By uniformly heated with the blowpipe flame and dose bubbles with the mouth, the ball is held and shaped in the appropriate size.

Last vast areas are softened by the heat and flames drawn in by suction, so that a limited with round curves rather small part of a hollow sphere, a kind of shell is formed with rounded borders, which can be easily fitted into the eye socket on the circumference of the sphere.

With the glass eye, the original facial harmony is to be restored. The coloration and adaptation of the artificial eye is usually in the presence of the patient. Nevertheless the cause that led to the loss of the eye, ultimately responsible for the fact how well the cosmetic appearance of the patient will be.

The surface of the artificial eye from Kryolithglas is very homogeneous and resistant, which is why it needs to be replaced usually after about a year. The smooth surface of the glass can wear out faster due to dust, dirt, environmental factors, changes in the tear fluid or organic disorders as well. The wear on the surface and thus the aging process of the artificial eye is felt by the patient due to irritation of the eyelid. If an eye is not changed in time with that have become dull surface, this can lead to major damage in the eye socket.

A glass eye (with a supplement of 10 euros per eye) covered by health insurance in Germany as a medical aid to 100 %. The ocularist can make a glass eye in an hour. The cost is an average of approximately 300 euros, depending on the difficulty of individual staining and anatomical adaptation.

Ocular prostheses made ​​of plastic, developed from the 2nd World War in the United States, partly because the glass from Germany was no longer available, are made ​​of acrylic glass ( PMMA) manufactured by turning, milling, polishing, painting but also melting and bonding. The production of a prosthetic eye made ​​of plastic is more expensive than such a glass, but it is unbreakable and can be polished as opposed to glass and otherwise reworked, is a total permanent.

Ocular prostheses are medical devices that meet the requirements of the Medical Devices Act and subject to various areas, such as biocompatibility, specific standards (DIN EN ISO 10993-1:1998-06, DIN EN ISO 10993-1 / 1:1999-06 ).

Supply bases and cosmetic aspects

A medical indication for the adaptation of an artificial eye is usually the loss of an eye due to an accident, illness, or a necessary surgical removal ( enucleation ). After tumor surgery where much tissue must be removed, the supply of an ocular prosthesis may be required. In case of breakdown of the adjacent areas of the face, the eye prosthesis must be combined ( for the replacement of parts of the nose, for example ) (in some cases ) with a facial prosthesis.

Today's artificial eyes are deceptively similar to the appearance of a healthy eye usually. Due to the individual production and the use of modern surgical techniques in the removal of the eyeball is one, though sometimes limited, concomitant movement of the prosthesis possible so that they can be seen by a layman hardly. Even with some famous personalities of public life, it is little known that they wear a prosthetic eye.

History

The oldest known ocular prosthesis is an artificial eyeball, which was found in Shahr -e Investigated in Iran today and has been dated to an age of 4800 years. The archaeologists found him in the grave of a 25-30 year old woman and suspect material as a mixture of tar and animal fat.

Even the Egyptians, Chinese, Romans and Greeks presented here from precious and semi- precious stones, ivory, white feldspar, glass, porcelain and metal alloys by artificial eyes for statues, statuettes, mummies, masks, dolls and toy animals. So highly regarded were already 2000 years ago Fabri ocularii statuarum in Rome. Aristotle ( 384-322 BC ) mentions puppets with moving eyes.

In the Middle Ages there was already " Serving eyes," painted eyes of leather that were worn on the eyelids and secured with a spring wire on the head. Also, there were already " inlay eyes " of gold or silver, with a painted in enamel colors iris.

The first glassy eyes were probably made in Venice, before the 17th century Paris became the center for artificial glass eyes. The Würzburg ophthalmologist Heinrich Adelmann (1807-1884) became interested in 1832 in a particularly felicitous Lauschaer dolls and animal eyes that have already been produced at that time in series production for toys, but have the mentioned artistic production of ocular prostheses little in common. His impulse to make a difference in Germany develop glass eyes for the people who fell in the Thuringian glass makers, artificial eyes horns and pioneer of the German Augenprothetik, Ludwig Müller- Uri, on fertile ground ( See: glass eye from Lauscha ). Since 1835, therefore, artificial eyes are made of glass that can be customized for the eye socket of a patient.