Light Adjustable Lenses
The first and only lens specifically designed for you after cataract surgery.
If you’re interested in cataract surgery, here are some things you need to know.
Cataracts occur when the natural, crystallin lens in your eye becomes clouded and hard, darkening your vision and making it harder to see. Cataract surgery is a surgical procedure performed to remove the cloudy lens and restore clear vision.
Cataracts are clouding of the eye’s natural lens. There are two types of cataracts: nuclear and cortical. Nuclear cataracts occur when the natural lens becomes opaque and causes blurred vision. Cortical cataracts occur when there is damage to the outer layer of the natural lens. Both types of cataracts cause blurry vision. The only treatment for cataract is to remove the cloudy lens and replace it with an artificial intraocular lens (IOL) implant. Cataract removal surgeries are the most common
Cataract surgery offers the opportunity to correct other visual problems you might experience, including nearsightedness, farsightedness, irregularly shaped lenses, and presbyopia.
Choosing a new cataract lens implant
Your eye doctor uses your pre-surgery eye measurement to estimate the power and the type of IOL he thinks will give you the best vision after surgery
IOLs are selected based on preoperative measurements of the eye. These measurements are then used to predict the postoperative refraction. However, there are many factors that can affect the final outcome. For example, the amount of astigmatism present in the eye, the size of the pupil, and the shape of the cornea all play a role in determining the final refractive error. As a result, the actual postoperative refraction may differ from the prediction.
Light Adjusting Lens Implant Option
The LightAdjustableLens (LAL) is an intraocular lens (IOL) that allows you and your doctor to create a custom lens for your eye. LALs are designed to fit perfectly inside the capsular bag of your eye, allowing them to change shape and position to match your changing needs. You can adjust the focus of your vision, and even add or remove lenses to correct your vision.
Those who received the LAL achieved better visual acuity than those who received a standard multifocal IOL.
The LAL for cataract surgery is an adjustable lens that allows surgeons to adjust the power of
The Light Adjustable Lenses are made of a special photosensitive material that changes the strength of your implanted lenses in response to UV light.
If you choose the Light Adjustable Lens you will need to have your cataracts removed and an IOL implanted. The surgery is the same as if you chose a non-adjustable lens.
What is special about the Light Adjustable Lenses is that, after your eyes heal, you go back to your optometrist to have your vision checked during a routine eye exam, and then you and your optometrist will choose a custom prescription for your lenses based on your own eyes, your unique lifestyle needs, and the type of light you spend time in.
Light Treatments
You will be placed in front the Light Delivery Device, and it will non-invasibly deliver the UV light to the Light Adjustable Lens.
Light therapy is a treatment that involves exposing the skin to specific wavelengths of light. It is used to treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression. Light therapy works by stimulating the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood. Serotonin levels naturally decrease during the fall and winter months. Light therapy increases serotonin levels, helping to alleviate symptoms associated with SAD.
UV light sensitive lenses may be prescribed for protection against glare
The sun provides us with enough UV radiation to keep our eyes healthy. Artificial sources of UV light are safe to use in medical and ophthalmic procedures. However, as exposure can lead to uncontrolled changes in your eye, you will be provided with special UV protective glasses to wear while awake. These glasses will need to be worn at all times, including when sleeping.
You may remove glasses when sleeping and when showering, but you must keep them on when applying eye drops and when exposed to direct sunlight.
After 24 hours, you cannot change anything else about the implanted LAL, so you can take off the UV protective glasses and start enjoying your custom vision.
Light Adjustable Lens Fast Facts
- The first and only adjustable intraocular lens (IOL) that allows your physician to customize your vision after your cataract surgery
- Patients who received the Light Adjustable Lens followed by adjustments were twice as likely to achieve 20/20 vision at 6 months without glasses as those who received a standard monofocal IOL
- The cataract removal and IOL implantation procedure is the same as if you selected a non-adjustable IOL
- The Light Adjustable Lens is made of a special photosensitive material that changes the shape and power of your implanted lens in response to ultraviolet (UV) light
- You will have the unique ability to preview and compare possible vision outcomes based on your preferences and lifestyle requirements
- Light treatments that precisely reshape your implanted lens are delivered in your doctor’s office to adjust your vision to the desired target
- Light treatments are painless, non-invasive, and last approximately 90 seconds
- You may need 2 to 4 total light treatments over a period of 1 to 2 weeks to reach your vision goals
- You will need to wear special UV protective glasses during all waking hours (from time of lens implantation until after the last light treatment is completed) to prevent exposure to indoor and outdoor sources of UV light that can cause uncontrolled changes to the Light Adjustable Lens