A wide range of replacement lenses are available to cataract patients, each offering different advantages for post-surgery vision. The most effective lens to use depends on the patient’s individual preferences and goals for their vision.
The lenses eliminate the need for glasses or contacts after cataract surgery, providing most patients with convenient, effective results for their specific vision conditions.
IOL: Premium Lens – Overview
How do you pick the right IOLs?
There are several factors that we consider when helping patients choose the most appropriate IOL for their needs. Some of the common guidelines to consider as you make your choice include:
Insurance Coverage
Some insurance companies only cover certain lenses, such as the monofocal IOL. While insurance does not entirely dictate which lens you choose, some patients do prefer to stay within their parameters.
Lifestyle
There are several lifestyle factors one may wish to consider as they choose their IOL. These include:
- Use of digital devices that requires vision to be crisp, clear, and adaptable.
- Preference regarding eyeglasses. An IOL may reduce the need for eyeglasses up close or for distance vision. A patient may need to decide how much they want to rely on additional eyewear.
- Night driving. Some IOL options may have a higher instance of halos or glares around lights. This can be disruptive for the person who often drives in dim light or at night.
Vision
Advances have brought more options in lens replacement. Today, people with astigmatism have a greater chance of reducing or eliminating their need for eyeglasses with the right IOL. Astigmatism is the structural condition in which the front surface of the eye is oddly curved rather than perfectly round. The toric IOL is made to correct this.
When do you need a lens replacement?
Lens replacement typically coincides with cataract removal surgery. The timing of cataract removal is nearly always patient-driven. Cataracts progressively worsen and present challenges to daily activities such as driving and reading. As the eyes’ natural lenses become increasingly clouded, a person may have a hard time recognizing faces and interacting with loved ones. The diminishment of quality of life may be a motivating factor in scheduling cataract removal with lens replacement.
What are IOLs made of?
Most of the IOLs that are available today are made from a type of acrylic or silicone. Lenses also may have a special coating to protect the eyes from harmful UV light. Intraocular lenses are small, clear, round discs that are typically no larger than ¼ inch in diameter. Optical power is contained in the central part of the lens, a zone called the optic. The perfectly clear material from which the IOL is made will never cloud. The IOL should not move and, because the lens is so thin and lightweight, it will never be felt in the eye.
TriFocal Cataract Lenses
PanOptix
PanOptix is a trifocal cataract lens and is the first of its kind. It provides a full range of vision – near, far, and intermediate. Prior to Alcon’s PanOptix innovation, multifocal lens and monodical lenses could only correct near, intermediate, or distance vision leaving patients to decide which vision range they wanted to correct. The PanOptix lens eliminates the need to choose.
Even better, the PanOptix trifocal lens offers more than a full range of vision. In various light conditions and with varying pupil sizes, the lens performs beautifully. Most patients enjoy 20/20 near, intermediate, and distance vision. Patients with astigmatism can also eliminate their astigmatism and have all three distances with the Alcon PanOptix Toric Lens.
Vivity
Dr. Keamy also offers the Vivity lens by Alcon. Vivity is the first and only non-diffractive presbyopia-mitigating IOL. This provides patients with distance, intermediate, and even functional near vision.
With Vivity’s’ new X-Wave ™ technology it allows for a wider range of focuse than with a monofocal lens. This helps to decrease the need for glasses. This lens is the most effective when used in both eyes.
Technis Multifocal
Technis Multifocal can be used for those patients with or without presbyopia who want to have near, intermediate and distance vision without relying on glasses or contact lenses. Cataract surgery, which replaces the eye’s cataract-impaired lens with an artificial clear lens, also known as an intraocular lens, or IOL, is the most commonly performed surgical procedure in the United States.
Benefits of the Technis Multifocal
Technis multifocal was designed to provide cataract surgery patients with a high-quality vision similar to that of a younger person. The Technis IOL is meant to improve functional vision – the ability to see objects in varying light conditions – especially at night and twilight and in rain, snow and fog. This means improved night vision and reduction of spherical aberrations, an undesirable scattering of light that is a common side effect of cataract surgery.
Unlike other multifocal IOLs, Technis multifocal provides the following benefits:
- Excellent vision at all distances
- Excellent vision at all light levels
- 90 percent of Tecnis Multifocal IOL patients do not require reading glasses
Watch the following videos to learn more:
ReSTOR Multifocal
The AcrySof® IQ ReSTOR® IOL is an intraocular lens that provides good near, intermediate and distance vision for patients who want to significantly decrease their dependence on glasses or contacts after undergoing cataract surgery.
Benefits of the ReSTOR IOL
- The biconvex optic of the ReSTOR IOL is shaped during a process known as apodized diffraction. Apodized diffraction provides the patient with an increased depth of focus.
- Unlike other IOLs that are made of silicone or hard plastic, the AcrySof® IQ ReSTOR® IOL is a soft, foldable acrylic lens.
- There is no need for stitches because a smaller incision is made in the eye.
- The ReSTOR IOL corrects for both cataracts and presbyopia.
- The implant filters blue light without affecting the quality of vision.
Toric Lens
Intraocular lenses are used during cataract surgery to replace the damaged lens of the eye with an implant that clears up and corrects vision, oftentimes leaving patients with little to no dependence on glasses.
Up until now, patients with astigmatism did not have the same opportunities that other cataract patients have had in correcting their condition with the types of lenses that were available. Typically, the astigmatic patient would need an additional surgical procedure, such as refractive surgery or LASIK, to correct their vision after the procedure. If the patient did not want to undergo another surgical procedure, the only option for correction would be the use of either contact lenses or glasses to address their astigmatism.
Toric Lenses are able to accommodate for the condition of astigmatism. Toric Lenses are specially designed to correct astigmatism along with overall vision during cataract surgery, offering complete vision correction. We offer:
- Toric Monofocal
- Toric PanOptix
- Toric Multifocal
IOL: Toric Lens – Overview
Symfony & Symfony Toric Lens
First and only presbyopia-correcting extended range of vision IOL. It delivers a continuos, full range of high quality vision with incidence of halos and glare comparable to a monofocal IOL. It is available in both Non-toric version and a Toric version for patients with antigmatism.
Benefits of Symfony & Symfony Toric IOL
The Proprietary diffractive echelette design feature introduces a novel pattern of light diffraction that elongates the focus of the eye resulting in an extended range of vision.
The proprietary achromatic technology corrects chromatic aberration for enhanced contrast sensitivity. Correction of corneal chromatic aberration results in a sharper focus of light. When combined with correction of spherical aberration, it increases retinal image quality, without negatively affecting depth of focus.
Read what our patients are saying!
"Dr. Keamy is a great surgeon....today she removed my second cataract in 3 months. She is professional and very knowledgeable. Her human demeanor and compassion make for a very pleasant experience under her care! I do not hesitate to recommend her for your personal health needs. The office staff is the best, also."
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Schedule A Consultation
To learn more about Premium Cataract Surgery, contact us to schedule a consultation in our Westborough, MA office by calling 508.836.8733.
