CRYSTALENS: THE FIRST GENERATION
OF A NEW TYPE OF LENS THAT WILL END
THE NEED FOR READING GLASSES
One of the challenges that LASIK surgeons have faced since the
successful introduction of LASIK surgery almost 10 years ago is
eliminating the need for reading glasses. Almost everyone over
age 40 will develop the need for reading glasses. Comparably,
30 percent of the population has some type of refractive error
(nearsightedness, farsightedness and/or astigmatism) correctable
with LASIK surgery.
The reading glasses issue has now been addressed with the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the Crystalens. An added
benefit is that at some point after age 50, most persons' lens
will harden and become cloudy. This condition, called cataracts,
can be solved in advance as well with Crystalens - and eliminate
the need for cataract surgery. Crystalens surgery is much like
cataract surgery, except that an accommodating lens is implanted.
Previously with traditional LASIK, the only way to address the
reading glasses situation was monovision in which one eye was
corrected for distance, the other for near vision. Technically,
monovision did not address the underlying anatomical problem.
And unfortunately, not all individuals could tolerate this because
it requires the brain to make the shift between eyes.
Actually, the reading glasses problem is caused by presbyopia,
the medical term that applies to individuals over 40 losing their
ability to see up close. Presbyopia is caused by the hardening
of the lens in the eye. Much like a camera shutter, the ciliary
muscles squeeze on and flatten the lens when one is younger to
be able to see fine print. As the lens hardens, the lens cannot
adjust …. In contrast, LASIK involves reshaping the cornea
- the outer portion of the eye - to change the way light focuses
on the retina.
The Crystalens, also known as an Intraocular Lens (IOL), is implanted
in the eye. As each of us ages, most of us will likely need cataract
surgery to change the lens as its ages and grows cloudy. Crystalens
works like the eye's natural lens to allow patients to see images
seamlessly that are near (inside 16 inches), intermediate (between
16 and 36 inches) and distant (36 inches and beyond) without glasses.
In clinical tests:
