Got eye floaters? Researchers have created gold nanoparticles that bust them up

My eyes are loaded with floaters and I get more of them every year. I try to think of them as free entertainment, but I hope this new research into reducing floaters takes off.

From Chemical and Engineering News:

In experiments with human eye fluid samples, researchers have found that gold nanoparticles heated with a low-energy laser can help reduce these problematic clumps (ACS Nano 2019, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.9b04050). The technique could lead to a clinical therapy that's superior to those currently in use.

Healthy eyeballs are filled with a transparent, jelly-like substance known as the vitreous humor that's largely a mesh of collagen and the polysaccharide hyaluronic acid. The collagen can form insoluble globs that float within the gel, scattering light and potentially disrupting vision. Clinicians treat these problematic floaters by vitrectomy, an invasive and irreversible process that replaces the vitreous fluid with a saline solution, or by shining a high-energy laser beam into the eye to break clumps apart. Studies have found that only 38% of patients report that laser treatment helped their symptoms, and the procedure carries risks of damage to the lens or retina.

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