Would you like to reduce dependence on glasses after cataract surgery? Cataract surgery now offers the benefits of improved near, intermediate and distance vision.
If your doctor has informed you that you are a candidate for cataract surgery, you may want to consider enhancing your procedure by selecting multi-focal lenses or special intraocular lenses. Unlike monofocal lenses, multifocal lens design uses technology to provide patients with near, intermediate, and distance vision. Presbyopia is a condition that usually starts to affect people in their early to mid forties when they can no longer see well up close. As a result, presbyopic patients have difficulty with activities such as reading, sewing, and using the computer. In the FDA clinical studies, the majority of patients who received the types of multifocal lenses available at Maine Eye reported that they no longer needed glasses for any activities. Many patients note that, after receiving these lenses, reading without glasses is as easy as it was before their forties. Even when patients opt to follow up with a pair of glasses, many find that wearing these glasses is not essential for the majority of their daily functions. Medicare and most insurance companies cover the cost for cataract surgery using the standard intraocular lens. If you choose to proceed with a multifocal lens, Medicare will still provide up to its allowed payment for the standard procedure and operating room time. Medicare, and supplementary insurance plans, will not cover the cost of upgrading your lens or additional testing and evaluation.
Please see below to read about the special lens implant options you have at Maine Eye. If you have any questions make sure to call us and talk with one of our cataract surgery lens implant experts.
ReSTOR™Lens: Restoring Vision For Cataract Patients in Maine
FDA clinical trials Show 80% of patients are spectacle FREE after surgery.
The AcrySof ReSTOR lens is a foldable IOL that represents breakthrough technology because of its unique, patented optic design, which allows patients to experience the highest level of freedom from glasses ever achieved in IOL clinical trials.
The AcrySof ReSTOR IOL uses a combination of three complementary technologies: apodization, diffraction and refraction, to allow patients to experience a full range of high quality vision without the need for reading glasses or bifocals. This range of vision without glasses is achieved through the optical properties of the IOL.
The benefit for patients is a high level of spectacle freedom. Alcon has patented the application of apodization technology to an IOL, making the AcrySof ReSTOR lens the first and only apodized diffractive IOL.
During U.S. clinical trials, the results with ReSTOR were remarkable:
- 80% of patients reported that after lens implant surgery with ReSTOR lenses, they no longer needed glasses or contact lenses to see clearly at all distances.
- 94% said they could drive and read the paper without contacts or glasses.
- Nearly 94% were so satisfied that they would have the procedure again.
Crystalens for Maine!
What is the Crystalens®
The Crystalens® accommodating intraocular lens is an intraocular lens used after cataract surgery or as a lens alternative in presbyopic lens exchange. The concept of the lens was engineered with a hinge design to allow the optic, or part of the lens that you see through, to move back and forth as your focus on an image changes. The Crystalens® accommodative intraocular lens is permanently implanted with a surgical process and functions in a similar fashion as the natural eye. Once the surgery has been completed your eyes can focus on far or near objects in a comfortable way with no discomfort. If you are experiencing presbyopia or cataracts please feel free to consult us about the possibility of utilizing the new Crystalens® accommodative intraocular lens.
HOW DOES THE crystalens® IOL WORK?
After the age of 40 people will often start to experience difficulty reading as the eye’s natural lens starts to harden. Prior to this many people often experience excellent vision and are typically confused as to what is happening with their eyes. Because their vision may have been perfect they have never consulted an ophthalmologist as to what is naturally occurring. This inability to see at close distances or difficulty for the muscles in the eye to auto-focus can be very discouraging. This is known as loss of accommodation, or presbyopia. The Crystalens was engineered with a hinge design to allow the optic, or part of the lens that you see through, to move back and forth as your focus on an image changes.
FDA Clinical Trial Information
- 98.4% of patients implanted with Crystalens in both eyes could pass a driver’s test without glasses
- 100% could see intermediate (24″ to 30″) without glasses, the distance for most of life’s activities
- 98.4% could see well enough to read the newspaper and the phone book without glasses
- Some patients did require glasses for some tasks after implantation of the Crystalens
- Significantly more patients implanted with a Crystalens (88.4%) could see better at all distances then patients implanted with a standard IOL (35.9%)
Read more at the Crystalens website.
What makes the Crystalens different from other intraocular lenses?
The Crystalens has the unique ability to focus on objects at varying distances using the eye’s natural focusing system. This means that the crystalens can provide a continuous range of vision, without corrective lenses, from near to far and everything in between. Standard (single vision) lens implants do not have the ability to provide a full range of vision. Most people who have single vision lens implants MUST wear glasses for middle and near vision. It was shown in the two year clinical trial that supported the FDA approval of the crystalens that significantly more patients implanted with a Crystalens (88%) could see better at all distances than patients implanted with a standard lens (36%). (Courtesy of www.crystalens.com)
If you are seeking crystalens surgery in Maine the doctors at Maine Eye would like to help you through this process. Please feel free to contact us directly at 1.800.269.6529. Maine Eye Center is dedicated to excellence in Maine eye care. Call us today!
Toric IOLs for Astigmatism
The doctors at Maine Eye are pleased to offer Toric IOLs for Astigmatism correction after cataract surgery. The recent advancements in Intraocular Lens (IOL) technology have now made it possible to provide an effective solution for patients that have astigmatism. Until recently, patients that were IOL candidates and had astigmatism had no option built into the lens that would correct the astigmatism aspect of their visual condition. Surgeons would typically perform refractive surgery or LASIK after the insertion of an IOL to correct the complete visual picture. If patients did not have astigmatism correction after IOL implantation then contacts or glasses would be required to deal with the astigmatism. With advancements in the optics of IOLs the manufacturers have now been able to accommodate for astigmatism.
Toric IOL technology uses biocompatible materials that have been successfully used in contact lenses and proven safe for the eye. There is an additional cost for this lens implant. Maine Eye Center does strive to make the Toric lens affordable for our patients by offering payment options here in our office.