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One of the most important developments for cataract patients in the past few years has been intraocular lenses (IOLs). These tiny prescription lenses were created to replace the focusing power of the eye’s natural lens during cataract surgery. Prior to the introduction of IOLs, cataract patients had to wear thick glasses or special contacts after surgery, making them essentially blind without their glasses.

Currently, more than one million IOLs are implanted each year in the United States, giving cataract patients the best vision of their lives. Intraocular lenses were originally introduced as inflexible lenses that required larger incisions. Now, technology has provided ophthalmologists with two different types: hard and foldable. The advantage to foldable lenses, made of acrylic or silicone, is that they can be folded up and inserted with a much smaller incision, then unrolled within the eye.

Advances in Intraocular Lenses

The foldable lens is just one of the advancements in intraocular lens technology. After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first IOL in 1981, IOLs found widespread acceptance and manufacturers saw other potential applications, eventually pushing for more IOL variety. Those choices include:

• Multifocal lenses – offering variable distance viewing with greater possibility that glasses or contacts will not be needed. ReZoom™ and ReStor® provide clear vision at all distances and offer greater freedom from eyewear than traditional monofocal IOLs.

• Toric IOLs – reduces or eliminates corneal astigmatism and greatly improves distance vision without the need for corrective lenses. The Staar Surgical IOL and the AcrySof® IQ Toric IOL will help the blurriness at all distances often caused by an ovoid corneal shape.

• Accommodating IOLs – a revolutionary lens design that after implantation will change focus as the patient views objects at varying distances. The Crystalens® is controlled by the same eye muscles that controlled the natural lens.

• Aspheric IOLs – a lens that provides better contrast sensitivity than other IOLs. The Tecnis® IOL is a good choice for those who often drive at night, as it provides clearer vision in low light conditions.

• Filtering IOLs – can restore the natural eye’s ultraviolet (UV) light filtering that is removed in cataract surgery. Other IOLs have blue light filters; blue light is thought to play a role in causing age-related macular degeneration.

• Monofocal lenses – an older type of IOL offering vision at only one distance that can be augmented by the use of glasses or contacts.
Cataract surgery has become a simple procedure with an excellent success record. So, for those who view the world as if they peer through a steamy bathroom mirror, IOLs have made seeing a great deal more enjoyable.

More Info from the Author:

Katzen Eye Group in Baltimore and Lutherville, Maryland was one of the nation’s first ophthalmology practices to use the intraocular lens implants for surgery. For more information about intraocular lenses, please go to the Katzen Eye website.