M-Sphere® Orbital Implant Patient Information

M-Sphere®
Orbital Implant
Patient Information
Introduction:
Your ophthalmologist has advised you to consider an M-Sphere®
orbital implant. The idea of losing an eye can
be difficult to accept, even when it is badly damaged, diseased or painful.With an M-Sphere®
implant and an
artificial eye you can be confident about the procedure, how you will look and how your life will change. MSphere®
, in combination with a custom fitted artificial eye (also called an ocular prosthesis), creates a naturallooking eye that exactly matches your healthy eye so even close friends and family will be unable to tell that
you have an artificial eye.
In this brochure we outline how the M-Sphere®
works, how it is surgically implanted and the normal recovery
process, so that you are entirely comfortable with the procedure. Please talk to your doctor if you have any
additional questions.
The M-Sphere®
history and how it works:
The M-Sphere®
is a sphere of hydroxyapatite, the same material that forms the framework or ‘scaffolding’ for
natural human bone. Over 500 patients have had an M-Sphere®
implanted since the first one in 1971. The
M-Sphere®
has been used routinely in New Zealand for the past 25 years with a fantastic success rate. Over
90% of M-Spheres®
implanted are functioning perfectly. Patients with an M-Sphere®
implant live normal lives,
practically forgetting they have an orbital implant and an artificial eye.

As you can see in figure 1, the M-Sphere®
is extremely porous (as is human bone). The advantage of a
porous ball (as opposed to the solid marble-like balls, which used to be used to fill an empty eye-socket) is
that the tissues remaining in the eye socket grow to fill in the spaces in the M-Sphere®
implant. In this way,
the muscles and other connective tissues fill in the gaps and "adopt" the implant, which becomes an integral
part of your body. The eye muscles, which move a healthy eyeball, move the M-Sphere®
implant in exactly
the same way. Although your eyelid is closed when you are not wearing your artificial eye the implant makes
it appear as though there is still an eyeball behind the lid. Because the M-Sphere®
has the advantage of being
made of material readily found in the body and not of an artificial material, your body readily accepts the
implant as its own and rejection does not occur.
Figure 1: This photo shows an M-Sphere® exactly as it is
before it is implanted in your eye, although the size may vary.
Note that the implant is extremely porous. No artificial or
donor material is required for the full functioning of the
implant. (Some other implants are made from sea coral, a
material not naturally found in the human body, and
implantation may require the use of donor sclera, the white of
the eye, from an eye donor.)
While the M-Sphere®
fills the space left by a removed
eyeball, the front of the eye (the pupil, iris, etc.) is replicated by an artificial eye (ocular prosthesis). The
artificial eye is made and moulded by a highly qualified ocularist to exactly match your remaining eye. Your
artificial eye will sit neatly on top of your M-Sphere®
implant, as a contact lens would on a natural eye, and
will give you a natural look with the artificial eye following the movement of your eyes.

The M-Sphere®
procedure:
The surgery is usually performed under general anaesthetic and takes about one hour to complete. First, the
eyeball is carefully removed (enucleated), retaining the eye muscles, blood vessels and the outer layers that
cover the eyeball. The M-Sphere®
is then positioned and entirely covered by these retained tissues. The
muscles that move the eye are carefully sewn into their correct position over the M-Sphere®
This ensures .
that the movement of the M-Sphere®
matches the movement of the other eye.
At the end of the operation, your eye will be covered with a sterile pad for 24 to 48 hours. After this,
antibiotic eye drops will be given to prevent infection over the next two to three weeks. The eye will need to
remain patched for one to two weeks, although it may remain swollen for up to ten weeks. The tissues in
your eye socket will grow into the empty spaces in the M-Sphere®
making it into a living, integral part of your
body. Once your eye has fully healed and all the swelling has gone down your artificial eye (ocular prosthesis)
can be prepared. This usually takes place about ten to twelve weeks after the initial operation.
The final step, the artificial eye:
Your artificial eye will be very important for the external appearance or ‘look’ of your eye. A highly qualified
ocularist will mould the artificial eye to fit your MSphere®
implant, and will colour it carefully to match
your good eye, even down to minute details like the
tiny blood vessels on the white of the eye and subtle
colour variations in the iris (refer to figure 2). Unlike
some other orbital implants, the artificial eye with the
M-Sphere®
moves naturally with the other eye, and
there is no need for an artificial peg to hold the
artificial eye in place.
Daily routine and care of your new eye:
Because the M-Sphere®
is very porous (the most porous implant available), the fibrous tissue in your eye
socket grows in rapidly and completely so that the M-Sphere®
soon
becomes an integral part of the ocular tissues. Long term studies
over 25 years have shown that onc