Even while you could enjoy a gloomy day at the beach, you won’t appreciate having a cloudy vision. Your vision becomes blurry and distorted due to cataracts, making it difficult to see clearly. Fortunately, you may quickly remove your cataracts with surgery and get your vision back. Your native lens will be removed during cataract surgery and restored with an artificial intraocular lens.

The type of intraocular lenses, or IOLs, have experienced a revolutionary transformation along with advancements in the technologies used for cataract surgery. Sir Harold Ridley installed the first intraocular lens (IOL) in the human eye in 1949, and it was constructed of Perspex, an acrylic.

The types of cataract lenses currently available for implantation have entirely changed how cataracts are treated since that time.

Intraocular Lenses: Types

The two most popular lens types are:

Anterior Chamber Lenses:

These lenses cover the iris, the brown portion of the eye. This type of lens is not the preferred IOL following straightforward cataract surgery because it does not physiologically correspond to the normal position of the eye’s native lens. If the posterior capsule of the lens is inadequate or damaged, ACIOLs are implanted.

Posterior Chamber Lenses:

These lenses are recommended because they are positioned over the remnant posterior capsule in the natural location of the eye’s natural lens.

The main categories of advanced PCIOLs implanted following contemporary cataract surgery are also included, including microincision cataract surgery and femtosecond laser cataract surgery. Premium IOLs is the aggregate name for these lenses.

There are three major categories of premium IOLs:

Monofocal Lenses

Unlike the eye’s original lens, which can restore vision for near and far distances, mono-focal lenses have one focus point. It is typical to determine the mono-focal lens power, so the patient does not require glasses for visual acuity. Depending on your prior refractive error, you may require reading glasses or even bifocals, which are glasses for both far and near, after having a mono-focal lens for cataract surgery (especially astigmatism). The best mono-focal lens for cataract surgery includes Aurium, Acrysof IQ, etc.

Multifocal Lenses

Multifocal IOLs provide good vision restoration for both near and far vision. It’s crucial to remember that multifocal lenses, which can be tailored to your busy lifestyle, relieve you from needing glasses for near and far distances. Your specialist will go through monovision with you if you decide against getting multifocal lenses for cataracts and do not want to carry near- or distance-vision glasses.

Toric Lenses

An eye might have two different forms of power: spherical power, which is caused by the natural lens inside the eye, and cylinder power, which is caused by the asymmetry in the cornea’s curvature. Monofocal and multifocal lenses can only cure the spherical portion of the eye, leaving the cylinder portion uncorrected and needing to be later corrected by supplementary prescription eyeglasses. The cylinder and spherical parts of the eye can be fixed using toric lenses. If your eye has a significant amount of pre-existing cylinder or astigmatism, toric lenses for cataract surgery are advised.

Which Lens Is The Best For Your Eyes?

The effectiveness of the eye type of lens depends on various factors. Your doctor will go over the potential advantages of each of these lenses with you and assist you in choosing the one that best suits your lifestyle, visual requirements, and objectives for the cataract procedure.

Priorities and way of life

If you have a hectic lifestyle that necessitates close attention outside, such as playing golf, you may endanger your near vision but not your far vision. If you travel frequently, you can forgo wearing glasses altogether in favor of a little near and far-sightedness accuracy. On the other side, you’ll need a superb near vision if you like to sew or embroider.

Existing illnesses

You might not be suitable for certain lenses if you have advanced hypertension, corneal problems, or age-related macular degeneration. To assist you in selecting the ideal lens for your eye, your eye doctor will conduct a thorough eye exam and go over the results and consequences with you.

Bottom Line

The fact that cataract surgery and lens replacement outcomes are permanent and you need to have it done once is one of the many advantages of these procedures. But this also emphasizes the necessity of carefully weighing your options before surgery.

You can now select to possess an effective artificial lens embedded into your eye while having your vision problems treated, thanks to improvements in ophthalmic surgery methodologies and the new tech used to design intraocular lenses (IOL), which we have already learned about. This can significantly enhance your vision.

About the author- Dr. Mahipal S Sachdev, Chairman and Medical Director, Center for Sight, New Delhi