Tiny magnets to stop eyes from twitching

TINY magnets implanted in the eye socket have been used to treat nystagmus, known as ‘dancing eyes’. It affects one in 400 people and causes involuntary eye movements that hinder vision.

To treat it, two magnets are implanted, one in the bottom of the eye socket and the other attached to a muscle that controls eye movements. The attraction between the magnets stops the eye muscle twitching constantly, without stopping intentional movements needed to focus the eye.

Doctors at Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London implanted magnets in a man in his 40s and saw ‘dramatic’ difference in twitches, according to the journal Ophthalmology.

Larger trials are planned.