Many years ago, before the development of lens implants, VERY thick glasses or contact lenses were needed after cataract surgery. Today these people can benefit from implantation of Secondary Lens Implants.

Today nearly everyone having modern cataract surgery will have a lens implant placed inside their eye at the time of surgery. The development of foldable implants was a critical step in the evolution of "No Stitch" small incision cataract surgery.

With any type of lens implant, your surgeon can correct near-sightedness or far-sightedness by selecting the correct power of the lens.

A new foldable implant is now available that can also correct astigmatism, and a second "multi-focal" lens implant is now available that allows simultaneous correction of both distance and near vision, without wearing glasses!

Correction of Astigmatism: STAAR Toric Lens Implant

Click on this figure to go to STAAR's web site

There are many ways to surgically correct astigmatism, most of which involve permanently altering the shape of the cornea. When oriented properly inside the eye, this implant is the only implant available in the US that can correct astigmatism at the same time as it corrects far-sightedness or near-sightedness.

Simultaneous Correction of Distance and Near Vision: AMO ARRAY Mulitfocal Lens Implant

This photo shows the typical appearance of a foldable, three piece lens. When placed inside the eye, the central round portion (optic) lies behind the pupil. The wires coming out of it are called haptics, and they suspend the implant inside the same disc-shaped space that used to be the home of the natural lens.

By selecting the correct power of this implant, your surgeon can make you less dependent on glasses. Usually the power is selected to give optimum distance vision, meaning that you would have to wear glasses to read. Occasionally the power is selected so as to give you optimal near vision. Then you need to wear glasses in order to see well at a distance.

The optic portion of most implants has only one power. The ARRAY lens from AMO, however, is multifocal, and therefore has multiple powers. Figures 2 and 3 show that this lens is made up of several zones. When using this lens, the surgeon selects the power of the central zone that he feels will give optimal distance vision. Zones 2 and 4 have extra magnifying power, allowing you to read. So if you have this lens inside your eye, you actually get multiple images. The upside of multiple images is that you may be able to read and see in the distance without any glasses. The downside is that you may be bothered by multiple images.

The net result is that most people who have this implant, in both eyes, are able to see in the distance and read at near. It takes a bit of adjusting, and multiple images means more glare than with traditional implants. Driving at night is more difficult due to glare and halos in the vision, and a small percentage of people have asked to have these implants removed (sorry, nothing's perfect).

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This page last updated 5/7/2008