Corrales Ocular Innovation InstituteTM

“To advance the art and science of ophthalmology through research and innovation.”

We believe that graduating from medical school, specializing in ophthalmology, and providing excellent patient care are noble goals. However, true medical advancement comes from innovative research. Our Institute is dedicated to developing new devices and treatments, rather than conducting non-innovative studies, to benefit patients and the medical profession beyond our doctors’ careers.

 

Staff

Gustavo Corrales,MD, Founder, Medical Director

At the University of Pittsburg and New York Eye Institute he had advanced training in complex cataracts, corneal transplantation, and pterygium surgery. His research interests include developing pterygium surgery instruments, glaucoma, visual fields, and dry eye disease.

Diana Salazar, MD, Fellowship Trainer Glaucoma Specialist

At the university of California at Los Angeles and at the University of Michigan she did outstanding research in visual field progression, outflow mechanism of glaucoma and micro-glaucoma surgery.

John Karickhoff, M.D. Director of Research

Through extensive research, he is perhaps the only ophthalmologist to have produced a significant contribution or an innovation of each of the 14 anatomical parts of the eye.

Kedrick Ng, Study Coordinator

Lucia Munoz, Study Coordinator

Naty Flores, Certified Ophthalmic Technician

Jackie Serpas, Ophthalmic Technician

Research Equipment

The Institute operates in Dr. Corrales’ office, utilizing the latest medical equipment. This includes multiple slit lamps, cameras, lasers, a surgical suite, an OCT laser, a computerized visual field machine, ultrasound machines, a computerized keratometer, two corneal endothelial cameras, optical biometry, and more.

Half of our research studies are supported by Dr. Corrales’ private practice. The other half are conducted with the Emerson Clinical Research Institute, which has an ophthalmic division in Dr. Corrales’ office. This division performs FDA-supervised clinical trials on issues such as COVID-19, urinary infections, and glaucoma.

Innovation Studies

Corrales Floater Finder/Illustrator/Documenter

The Corrales floater documentation method identifies which floaters bother the patient most, which may differ from those seen by the doctor.

This method is especially useful for locating small floaters in young patients and is revealing when patients draw floaters larger than they are.

Dr. Corrales has perfected this method, allowing patients to see and differentiate floaters, draw them to scale, and sign the drawing. The drawing is then photographed upside down and added to their electronic record. Dr. Corrales views the photograph to see the floater in its true position in the eye. The patient’s drawing guides Dr. Corrales’ examination, and comparisons are made between the drawing and actual photographs before surgery.

Four steps documentation:

 

Translucent Occluder Significantly Improves Visual Field Testing

Early Design of Translucent Diffuser

Visual field testing is crucial for diagnosing and monitoring diseases, especially glaucoma. Traditionally, an opaque patch covers the non-tested eye, creating darkness and causing visual rivalry, leading to intermittent blackouts and missed targets.

We developed a translucent diffuser that blocks vision but allows light into the non-tested eye, eliminating rivalry and missed targets. This unique device, the “Corrales Visual Field Fatigue Diffuser™,” improves accuracy, reduces fatigue, and speeds up the test. All our visual field tests use this device, proven effective through extensive private practice studies.

 

Final Magnetic Translucent Occluder

During our research with the translucent eye patch above, we experimented and did a formal visual field study on 60 eyes to see if the patch had to be attached to the patient’s head over their eye as had been done since the inception of visual field testing.   We found that by using our translucent diffuser and placing it on the visual field machine rather than on the patient’s head, it improved visual fields and visual field testing in 18 ways without the need of an eye patch!  Our device was so successful that Haag-Streit of Switzerland, the world’s largest manufacturer of professional ophthalmic equipment, incorporated our Corrales/Karickhoff Diffuser with their Octopus 600 visual field machines, the most popular machine in the world.

You can obtain the occluder directly from Haag-Streit

Dry Eyes Study

Some patients with Dry Eyes do not have an oily tear film layer to prevent evaporation of the tears. Seeing this oily layer is important in any study of dry eyes. A device developed here allows seeing and photographing this allusive multicolored oily layer.

 

Device to Aid in Pterygium Surgery

In the past, the recurrence rate after pterygium surgery was as high as 70%. With Dr. Corrales’ specialized training and techniques, including fibrin glue closure, conjunctival sliding flap, amnionic tissue, and his developed instrument, the recurrence rate is now less than 5%.

 

Study in the treatment of dry eyes

Our double-blind study is to determine which eyedrops are the most effective in treating dry eyes.

 

Study on treatment of presbyopia

This study compares the effectiveness of using eye drops versus wearing glasses for reading.

 

Alternate Glaucoma Treatments

For patients who cannot tolerate eye drops for glaucoma or have adverse reactions, our study compares two alternative treatments:
(a) laser treatment to the outflow channels of the eye, and (b) a medication pellet placed inside the eye. 

Laser treatment

Implant with medication pellet inside the eye

Karickhoff Macular Acuity Tester – K-MAT

HAND-HELD DEVICE REVEALS MACULAR ACUITY
AND PREDICTS POST-OPERATIVE VISION
WHEN THE MACULA CAN NOT BE SEEN
By John Karickhoff, M.D.
Doctors can easily examine the cornea, the lens, and the vitreous to learn if there is the clarity to allow good vision.  However, learning the potential visual acuity of the macula when the cornea, lens, or vitreous is cloudy is presently impossible because the doctor (a) can’t see the macula adequately pre-operatively and (b) the cloudy cornea, lens, or vitreous blocks the macula from viewing the visual testing chart on the wall. To solve this impossibility, we are proposing using the blue-field entoptic test.
The blue-field entoptic phenomenon was first described in 1924 by Richard Scheerer.  It consisted of using an electric light in a box as a projector to shine through a very pure blue light pass-filter into the eye of the patient.  There the blue light was absorbed by the red blood cells in the micro-vessels of perifoveal area of the macula, but the light was not absorbed by the white blood cells.  This created what appeared to the patient as about 50 tiny white lights each moving for about one second in its curved pattern and all lights pulsating when the patient’s heart beat.
We have studied this blue field entoptic phenomenon for 30 years and have learned or done six things with the test. 
(1) We learned clinically that if the patient sees their retinal white blood cells in their perifoveal area, their macular acuity is 20/40 or better, which, by happy coincidence, is level of vision commonly used as the standard of surgical success.
(2) We learned that this test is independent of the presence of a cataract, vitreous or corneal haze as long as one gets some pure blue light to the retina. 
(3) We learned that the test worked when the cornea, lens, or vitreous opacities were dense enough to prevent reading any conventional wall chart.  This is possible because in this test, both the visual receptors and the visual target are adjacent in the retina, not  one on the wall.
(4) We adapted the blue-field entoptic test from using the light in the box as the projector to using the slit lamp as the light projector.  This was accomplished by simply placing the filter on a handle.  This adaptation made the test less expensive, no table space was used, the patient did not have to be moved from the slit lamp to the box, and the test could be done in 10 seconds. 
(5) We performed a 10-month clinical study to learn the accuracy of the test in predicting post-operative vision. 
(6) We worked with a manufacturer and made this test commercially available. 
The diagram shows how the test works: the bright, white light of the slit lamp shines through the proprietary filter which has the proper optical frequency bandpass, the proper band-width, diameter, and optical density so as to get adequate light to the retina but not to dazzle the patient.  The blue light coming out of the filter into the patient’s eye, lights up their perifoveal white blood cells.  This display is dramatic and unique for any viewer. 

Private Practice Website:

Website of our private practice of ophthalmology is: www.NoVaVCS.com

Location & Scope:

410 S. Washington Street
Falls Church, VA 22046