Lens Options
When the natural lens is removed during cataract surgery, it must be replaced with an intraocular lens. There are several types of intraocular lenses including Monofocal, Toric, Extended Depth of Focus, and Multifocal Lenses. Patients now have the opportunity to make an informed decision as to which lens and visual outcomes they want.
Single Focus Intraocular Lenses
A singlefocus, or monofocal intraocular lens, is considered the traditional lens which has been used in cataract surgery for the last 40 years. This lens is one that corrects only distance vision and patients will need to wear reading glasses or bifocal/progressive glasses after surgery depending on their eyes’ prescription.
Toric Intraocular Lenses
Toric intraocular lenses are single focus lenses that will correct for distance and have built in correction for high levels of astigmatism. These lenses will provide a patient with excellent distance vision while reading glasses will still need to be worn for near tasks. There are also toric variety multifocal and extended depth of focus lenses.
Multifocal Intraocular Lenses
As we age, the ability of our eyes to focus weakens, resulting in the need for bifocals and reading glasses. Multifocal Intraocular Lenses are FDA-approved lenses which give patients clear vision at many distances: near, intermediate, and distance. Imagine the freedom of being free of glasses!
Multifocal lenses are implanted during cataract surgery to replace the natural lens. The most recently approved multifocal lenses available in the United States include the Tecnis diffractive multifocal lens (AMO) and the Alcon PanOptix TriFocal lens. Both of these lenses strive to provide patients with excellent distance vision as well as freedom from most reading glasses. With all these multifocal lenses, patients will experience glare and haloes after surgery especially during night activities. However, these signs will typically diminish within a few months after surgery as neuroadaptation occurs.
Extended Depth of Focus Lenses
The extended depth of focus (EDOF) lenses use technology based on an elongated focal point in order to give patients freedom from distance and most reading glasses. These lenses are known to give excellent distance vision while still preserving intermediate vision range such as computer and smart phone use. The TECNIS Symfony IOL (Abbott Medical Optics/AMO, Inc. of Santa Ana, California, Now Johnson-Johnson Vision) and the AcrySof™ IQ Vivity™ Extended Vision Intraocular Lens are the most recent EDOF lenses to be approved in the United States.
