What Washington Makes

By Jason Meisner

It takes a strong stomach, steady hands, and years of experience to make an eye.

Of all the people who need artificial eyes, babies are the toughest to fit. Ocularists, who make eyes, had to employ a device known as a stretching conformer. Only by actually stretching the baby's eye socket can they create an opening large enough for an artificial eye. In most cases, the stretching takes months. Consequently, an infant born anopthalmic (without eyes) or micro-opthalmic (with severely deformed eyes) poses a challenge for even the most skilled oculrist.

More often than not, the man called to give an infant eyes is Raymond Peters, a 64-year-old ocularist with offices in Upper Marlboro and Baltimore. One of half a dozen technicians in the country specializing in maxillo-facial prosthetics - a field including crafting false eyes, ears, and noses - Peters began his career with the Navy. During World War II he researched uses for plastics in Prosthethics. After the war he continued the work at different military hospitals. Since 1963, he's been in private practice and now he is one of the last masters of his trade.

To make an eye, Peters first inserts an alginate - a kelp-based gel - into the socket. After making an impression of the socket contours, Peters makes a mold. From it he pours a plastic implant. This implant, which fills out the remaining eyeball, is sewn to the eye muscles, allowing it to move like a natural eyeball.

Peters uses the same molding procedure to make the base for the eye from acrylic plastic, heat-cured so it won't irritate the socket. Using oil paints, Peters carefully duplicates the cosmetics of the patient's remaining eyeball. He uses red silk fibers to simulate blood vessels.

After painting the eye, Peters covers the replica with a clear cornea to protect it. He again heat-cures the eye, then inserts it by hand into the patient's socket. If it doesn't sit right, it comes out for further trimming. A final check ensures that the eye is scratch-free, since even the tiniest nick will play host to bacterial hordes. Most eyes, however, must be replaced within five years due to scratches or saturation with bodily fluids. The procedure costs from $1000 to $2000 - but then, invisibility costs money.

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