The manufacture of an artificial eye (ocular prosthesis) is the final and crucial element in the rehabilitation after the loss of an eye. A well formed socket is a basic precondition for the fitting of a prosthesis (custom making of an ocular prosthesis).
This means that an adequately sized and centrally positioned implant is in the orbit, to which the ocular muscles (if intact) are attached. The stability and motility of the prosthesis are also dependent on the depth of the conjunctival fornices, which are the recesses between the eyelids and the soft tissues of the orbit / implant. Not less important is the tone of the eyelids which retain the ocular prosthesis in the socket.
Ocular prostheses are manufactured from medical grade acrylic, and individually shaped to fit a certain patients socket. After that the prosthesis is painted in detail to resemble the fellow eye.
Ocular prosthetics is a skilled craft performed by qualified „ocularists“ (ocular prosthetists). Cooperation between the ocularist and the oculoplastic surgeon is essential in the rehabilitation of anophthalmos.
Dr Zikic cooperates with „IRIS“ ocular prosthetics (www.irisprotetika.com) in Belgrade, whose ocularists have over 27 years of experience. This practice is certified by the Ministry of Health of Serbia, in the custom manufacture of ocular prostheses.