Non-invasive optical method for real-time assessment of intracorneal riboflavin concentration and efficacy of corneal cross-linking

Keratoconus is the primary cause of corneal transplantation in young adults worldwide. Riboflavin/UV‐A corneal cross‐linking may effectively halt the progression of keratoconus if an adequate amount of riboflavin enriches the corneal stroma and is photo‐oxidated by UV‐A light for generating additional cross‐linking bonds between stromal proteins and strengthening the biomechanics of the weakened cornea. Here we reported an UV‐A theranostic prototype device for performing corneal cross‐linking with the ability to assess corneal intrastromal concentration of riboflavin and to estimate treatment efficacy in real time. Seventeen human donor corneas were treated according to the conventional riboflavin/UV‐A corneal cross‐linking protocol. Ten of these tissues were probed with atomic force microscopy in order to correlate the intrastromal riboflavin concentration recorded during treatment with the increase in elastic modulus of the anterior corneal stroma. The intrastromal riboflavin concentration and its consumption during UV‐A irradiation of the cornea were highly significantly correlated ( R = 0.79; P = .03) with the treatment‐induced stromal stiffening effect. The present study showed an ophthalmic device that provided an innovative, non‐invasive, real‐time monitoring solution for estimating corneal cross‐linking treatment efficacy on a personalized basis.