Sep 1, 2009
Correct Lens Implant Help Cataract Surgery
A new range of premium lens implants can now help most people have a customised version of cataract surgery that is apt for them.
“Cataracts are not a disease, but a progressive condition which causes the eye’s natural lens to become cloudy,” said board-certified ophthalmologist Jeffrey Baumann, MD, of Mid-Florida Eye Center.
“When a cataract is removed, the cloudy lens within the eye is replaced with an artificial intraocular lens (IOL),” he added, providing an option to laser eye surgery.
“A variety of IOLs may be used in cataract surgery. Each one has different characteristics and its own set of advantages and disadvantages; no one lens is right for everyone,” Baumann said.
“Today, the latest innovations include presbyopia-correcting IOLs, which are designed to improve distance vision and also near vision in the same eye. These lenses greatly improve the chances a person will not need glasses, even for reading. The technology is a great advance, but some patients still need glasses for some activities.
“Traditionally, the only lenses available have been fixed-focus, monofocal IOLs, and these are still the most commonly used in cataract surgery,” said Baumann.
“Monofocal lenses have a fixed focal point that is generally set for distance vision, so reading glasses are typically required for good near vision.”
“Recent refinements in the optical quality of these lenses allow an even higher quality of vision than before.”
Accommodating monofocal IOLs behave much like the natural eye. They are used when both good distance and good near vision are desired without the use of spectacles. These IOLs have a single focal point; however the focal point can shift. This means that objects at distance are clear when the eye focuses on them, but when the eye looks at a near object, the IOL will shift its focal point to bring the near object into focus.
The lens achieves this by physically moving inside the eye in response to the focusing action of the muscles of the eye. CrystalensHD® is an FDA approved IOL of this type. Patients implanted with the CrystalensHD IOL generally enjoy near vision without glasses that is much better than those implanted with Fixed Focus Monofocal IOLs. Vision at the intermediate (computer screen) distance is superb with the CrystalensHD, making this an excellent IOL for those who spend a great deal of time on a computer.
Multifocal IOLs use a different strategy to achieve good distance and near vision without glasses. These lenses have highly specialized optical properties that can divide light to bring it into focus at more than one point at the same time. This allows the eye to see near and far and in-between, usually without glasses.
The ReSTORª mulitfocual IOL uses a patented design to divide light into two focal zones so that near and distance objects can both be seen without glasses.
“The results we can achieve following cataract surgery today are better than ever,” said Baumann. “The added freedom and convenience offered with premium lenses could make your vision problems following cataract surgery a thing of the past.”
The surgeons of Mid-Florida Eye Center helped pioneer innovations in small-incision and no-stitch cataract procedures, as well as foldable and multi-focal lens implants that are considered the gold standard of eye surgeons around the world. Today, the practice has performed more than 120,000 cataract and laser procedures.
Mid-Florida Eye Center’s surgeons have been selected to perform clinical trials for some of the most important breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the eye, including glaucoma and macular degeneration.