Premium Smart Lens Applications

Premium Smart Intraocular Lens Applications

The loss of transparency of the intraocular lens located behind the pupil is called cataract. Cataract development is most commonly seen as a natural consequence of aging, but rarely it can also develop congenitally, due to trauma and medications used.

With human life getting longer, cataract surgery is the most commonly performed surgery in the world today. Once cataract starts to develop, there is no medical treatment to reverse this process. For this reason, what should be done after the complaints start to occur is to remove the lens that has lost its transparency and replace it with an artificial lens.

Until 10 years ago  this operation, which was performed as a standard operation and required the use of near and far glasses  after the operation, with the developments  has become possible to live without glasses.

Premium, high quality smart lenses used for this purpose can be analysed under 3 main groups:

1. Toric lenses:  Astigmatism is a refractive defect resulting from the eye structure that impairs both distance and near vision. This defect, which cannot be corrected by standard lenses, can be permanently corrected with toric lenses and the need for distance glasses after the operation is eliminated.

2. Multifocal lenses: These are the lenses that show both near and far vision.

Until a certain age, our natural lens  has the ability to adapt by changing its refractive power according to the distance. At the age of 40-45, this feature gradually starts to decrease and we have to use glasses to see near. This condition, which we call presbyopia, that is, old eye, is actually a natural aging process, as the name suggests. Excimer laser applications, which have been successfully applied for many years, do not have a permanent   correcting effect on presbyopia.

Although the industry's efforts to produce an accommodative lens that works like our natural lens, that is, which can focus the near and middle distance with the movement of our eye muscles, continue at full speed, the desired   point has not yet been reached.

Therefore, different optical principles and lens designs can be used to achieve near vision today. For 20 years, multifocal lens technology has been developing and today the most preferred multifocal lens is the diffractive trifocal smart lenses. 

Diffraction is the bending of light as it passes through a rough surface, creating different foci. In diffractive trifocal lenses, light is split into 3 different foci in the rings on the lens: near, centre and far distance. 

The splitting of light gives us a clear image in these three foci, but it can also cause undesirable effects such as decreased contrast sensitivity, haloed vision and glare. The severity   and duration   of these unwanted effects, called photic phenomena, can vary from person to person. After a certain adaptation period, the brain adapts to this new situation.

3. EDOF (depth of focus enhancement) lenses:
These are lenses that provide uninterrupted vision between the far and middle distance. Their potential to show near is lower than trifocal lenses. In general practice, near vision is supported by targeting the non-dominant eye with mild myopia. Although there are different designs using different optical principles in EDOF lenses, the most preferred diffractive aspheric lenses. These lenses contain fewer diffractive rings compared to trifocal lenses and photic phenomenon is much less. EDOF lenses are preferred in young patients in active working life and those who have undergone refractive surgery before.

Premium Smart lens applications to be considered!

The only permanent treatment for presbyopia, the problem of nearsightedness that occurs after a certain age, is premium lenses. For this reason, especially for people who want to get rid of glasses after the age of 50, lens replacement is performed instead of Excimer laser and  this procedure is called refractive lens replacement since there is no cataract.

Refractive cataract surgery or refractive lens replacement     is actually an aesthetic intervention that depends on the person's preference.  As in every aesthetic intervention, it is the patient, not the physician, who should make the decision. The task of the physician   is to inform the patient correctly and perform the surgery in the best way. 

The implantation of near vision lenses in the eye requires certain conditions. In simple terms, these lenses should not be implanted in the presence of any problems other than numbers or cataracts. Yellow spot disease, diabetic retinopathy, severe dry eye, corneal dystrophies, keratoconus, optic neuropathy, advanced glaucoma, etc. are conditions in which smart lenses should not be implanted.

If the eye structure is suitable, your physician calculates the power of the lens to be inserted into the eye by making many calculations. If your astigmatism is above a certain level  toric lenses should be preferred because  the most important reason for patient complaints after surgery is the presence of a small number in the eye.

Since the lens will remain in the eye for a lifetime, the quality of the material from which the lens is made is very important. In this sense, the most compatible material with the capsular sac in which the original lens is located is hydrophobic acrylic material. In hydrophobic acrylic material, which has the ability to adhere to the capsule, the fit of the lens to the functional axis of the eye and the stability in toric lenses are more successful.

In addition to the quality of the material, the surgery should also be without complications. In this sense, it is advantageous to use femtosecond laser technology that standardises the important stages of cataract operation.

As a result  in premium lens applications  there are many factors that can affect the result  and this surgery  may not be suitable for everyone. The result of an optimum surgery performed in suitable patients makes our patients happy.

Prepared by the Editorial Board of Eye Foundation Hospitals.

Prepared by the Editorial Board of Eye Foundation Hospitals.