A method of preventing rejection of an implant in the eye, includes forming a flap in the cornea of the eye, inserting an implant under the flap, cross linking corneal tissue surrounding an implant to make the corneal tissue surrounding an implant less vulnerable to enzymatic degradation, inserting polymeric material under the corneal flap so as to overlie corneal tissue, compressing a layer of the cornea from outside using a lens having a predetermined curvature to correct refractive error of the cornea, and cross linking corneal tissue that the polymeric material overlies.
