A REVOLUTIONARY eye treatment new to Britain is being pioneered in Bolton.

The new type of surgery, which uses radiowaves to correct vision, is designed to bring hope to millions of people over 40 who suffer from long-sightedness.

It can help people who previously had never worn glasses and now need them for reading only, and those who need glasses for distance as well as reading.

Lasers have become well-recognised as a way of treating short-sightedness, but have never been as effective for long-sightedness.

The CK (Conductive Keratoplasty) process could be the answer for the many people who suffer from long-sightedness, particularly people over 40 who find their ability to read close-up decreases with age.

Although there are 150 centres offering the CK treatment in the United States, if you want the treatment a bit closer to home only the Horizon Laser Eye Centre in Bolton has the capability.

The Bolton Evening News was there to witness one of the first people in this country to undergo the treatment. Eric Brown knew only too well the feeling of straining to read a restaurant menu, or magazine, without his glasses.

Mr Brown, aged 59, a keen golfer who is semi-retired from his auto-electrical business, said: "I heard about this surgery just two weeks ago and thought it sounded like the answer to my problems. I started to need reading glasses about 10 years ago and have always hated wearing them. It would be fantastic to have my sight back."

Mr Brown was so enthusiastic about the treatment that his wife, Jennifer, aged 58, has decided to undergo the surgery as well.

The procedure is carried out by David Allamby, a private specialist in refractive eye surgery, at the Newport Street centre where he is medical director.

Mr Allamby was trained to carry out the CK surgery by US experts. He has also been carrying out the more invasive, and better known, laser surgery full time for several years.

His is the first British centre to have the £35,000 CK machine installed and it is only the second such machine in Europe.

When Mr Brown heard it had arrived in Bolton, he phoned to make his appointment. The surgery has been carried out on one eye and the other eye will be treated in about two or three weeks.

Mr Brown was calm and relaxed as he lay on the bed preparing for the surgery. His eye was clamped open, anaesthetic drops applied, and the process carried out. The radiowave-carrying tip was carefully guided by Mr Allamby, making tiny dots in a circular pattern on the eye.

Before Mr Allamby had the treatment, he was asked to read from a sheet. He struggled. After the treatment I watched as he read more than he could before.

He said his sight was blurred -- only to be expected said Mr Allamby so soon after treatment -- but said his vision did appear clearer.

Mr Brown said: "You cannot feel the laser. I just felt a little bit of pressure on some of the points."

Mr Brown's sight is expected to improve to its full potential over the next month. The blurring, said Mr Allamby, will disappear.

HOW CK WORKS

THE pioneering CK treatment being carried out in Bolton is the least invasive of procedures. It changes the shape of the cornea, the front window of the eye, by a controlled release of radiofrequency energy.

The doctor uses a cool tip, thinner than a human strand of hair, to apply the radiowaves to the edge of the cornea as a ring of spots, from eight to 32 depending on the strength of glasses used by the patient. This causes tightening of collagen in a ring around the edge of the cornea, making it steeper -- rather like a belt being shortened by a couple of notches.

Long sight occurs when the eyeball is too short, or the cornea is too flat. CK makes the cornea steeper, bringing objects into focus. The treatment costs £1,250 for one eye and £2,000 for both eyes.