Newly Developed Head-Mounted Ultraviolet-Activated Riboflavin Device for Corneal Cross-Linking Therapy

Purpose: To compare the effectiveness of a newly developed head-mounted device (UV-GAMA) with traditional UV-CXL in terms of bacterial and fungal eradication. Study Design: Pre-clinical experimental study. Place of Study: Department of Microbiology Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Methods: Bacterial and fungal isolates were cultured, and suspensions were created to make a solution of 10⁸/ml. Each test series had a non-illuminated control vessel without bacterial or fungal inoculation as a negative control. Every bacterial and fungal isolate was treated with 30 minutes of UV radiation (UV-GAMA head mounted device vs Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking/CXL device). The bacterial and fungal suspension was cultured for 24 hours and 96 hours, respectively. The number of CFU was counted for each solution, as well as the corresponding control solution, and the concentration of bacteria was calculated. One-way ANOVA and post-hoc pair wise comparison using independent t-test were used for statistical analysis. The results of each bacterial/fungal count were examined separately. Results: Treatment with riboflavin + UV-GAMA and riboflavin + UV-CXL showed significantly reduced bacterial and fungal colonies compared to the positive control. Thus, riboflavin + UV-GAMA and riboflavin + CXL showed a similar outcome in terms of reducing bacterial colonies. Conclusion: The newly developed UV-GAMA head-mounted device shows a comparable result to the established CXL device. This finding emphasizes that the newly developed UV-GAMA can be used as an alternative to the existing CXL device. © 2025, Ophthalmological Society of Pakistan. All rights reserved.