What lens implants offer the highest quality vision?
If you don’t mind wearing glasses, standard single-focus lens implants may be the best option for you. These lenses provide excellent, crisp, and clear vision at a single distance. Glasses are usually required to achieve the full range of vision. For example, suppose the lens implant’s focusing power is selected to provide reasonable distance vision. In that case, glasses will likely be needed for tasks such as reading, sewing, working on crafts, and using a computer. Over the last 30 years, our surgeons have implanted tens of thousands of single-focus lens implants.
East Valley Ophthalmology offers the AcrySof IQ intraocular lens implant, designed to give the majority of cataract surgery patients without astigmatism the best potential for high-quality single-distance vision. The IQ lens is part of the trusted Alcon AcrySof intraocular lens implant family, which is among the most widely used for cataract surgery, with more than 30 million implants worldwide.
The AcrySof IQ lens is designed to enhance contrast sensitivity, reduce spherical aberration, and improve functional vision. The AcrySof IQ lens offers these advantages over traditional intraocular lens implants:
Reduction of spherical aberration.
Enhanced quality of vision.
Improved contrast sensitivity.
Filtered blue light protection.
Rich, vibrant color perception.
The IQ lens is ideal for patients who wish to correct their distance vision and are comfortable wearing glasses. Because this lens does not offer the ability to accommodate or adjust one’s focus at varying distances, glasses would still be required for near and intermediate tasks.
The AcrySof IQ intraocular lens implant is also an excellent choice for those who enjoy driving at night, as it delivers great clarity with minimal reports of glare or haloes under reduced lighting conditions.
Spherical aberration is a type of higher-order aberration that is common to almost everyone and becomes more pronounced as cataracts develop with advancing age. The thickening and clouding of the lens may alter its optical characteristics, leading to glare, halos, and decreased contrast sensitivity. Symptoms of increased spherical aberration are:
Glare and halos
Blurriness
Multiple images
Loss of contrast sensitivity
Poor night vision
Decreased functional vision
The AcrySof IQ has an aspheric design that counteracts the naturally occurring spherical aberration of the cornea. This helps to bring light rays into a single, ideal focal point, resulting in improved clarity by reducing the optical blurring caused by spherical aberration.
One of the most important benefits of the IQ Lens is improved functional vision. With compromised functional vision, even patients who have no problem reading the letters on an eye chart can be at a visual disadvantage.
The visual quality of an optical system, such as the human eye, is determined by its ability to faithfully transmit the characteristics of an object to its image with both clarity (resolution) and contrast (the ability to tell the difference between closely spaced items of similar color and hue).
For example, one only has to think of an old black and white TV from the 1950s for an example of a low-quality image in which the clarity was poor (low resolution) and items of similar intensity seemed to run together (lack of contrast).
Now compare that to the modern plasma screen TV you may have recently seen at a local electronics store. Of course, the image looked magnificent because both the resolution and especially the contrast were spectacular. In optics, the ability of an optical system to transfer an object’s contrast to its image is measured by what is known as the modulation transfer function.
The optical science behind the AcrySof IQ lens is to increase the modulation transfer function of the human eye. This is evident through a clinically significant improvement in night driving under test conditions that simulated both city and rural settings, including regular, glare, and fog conditions. In these tests, the IQ lens resulted in functionally better vision under 34 of 36 conditions tested. Visual performance was most excellent for the detection and identification of city pedestrians and rural warning signs under glare and fog conditions. The improved functional vision with the AcrySof IQ lens gave drivers time to take appropriate action.
In addition to its refractive role, the natural lens inside your eye is also responsible for filtering high-energy blue light commonly found within the sun’s rays and some artificial lighting. As part of the aging process, your natural lens gradually turns yellow, and it is thought that this color change may help to protect the aging retina by filtering more of these harmful wavelengths.
When your natural lens is removed during cataract surgery, the eye loses this ability to filter blue light. Without something to replace its natural filtering ability, the eye becomes vulnerable to the effects of these shorter, energetic wavelengths. Some researchers believe that overexposure to blue light may be harmful to the retina, increasing the risk of ocular melanoma and contributing to the development of macular degeneration and vision loss.
Most available intraocular lens implants filter UV light only, which means that a cataract surgery patient receiving one of those implants is left vulnerable to the transmission of these harmful wavelengths of blue light. The AcrySof IQ lens implant is unique in its ability to filter blue light, having a patented yellow tint that filters this potentially harmful wavelength of blue light.
The light yellow color of the IQ lens is very similar to that of your natural lens and is necessary to filter blue light, yet the IQ lens does not alter the natural colors of the things you see or change the quality of your vision. In fact, results of a recent study show equal or better color perception for patients implanted with the AcrySof IQ lens as compared to the same lens without the light yellow color.
Contrast sensitivity refers to the ability to perceive objects that may not be readily distinguishable from their background. This would be perceived as an ability to differentiate between shades of gray in closely spaced images (as seen in the chart at the right).
The ability to see a shade of gray on a white background or to see white on a light gray background declines with age. Cataracts, in particular, can affect contrast sensitivity.
Low contrast sensitivity may affect:
Seeing traffic lights or cars at night
Noticing spots or dirt on clothes, counters, or dishes
Understanding facial gestures and the subtleties of expression
Seeing whether a flame is burning on a stove
The amount of light necessary to read
Experiencing “tired eyes” while watching television
A person with early cataracts may test well on a black letter, white background visual acuity chart, but may still experience problems with reduced contrast sensitivity. Clinical studies using the AcrySof IQ lens have demonstrated a significant improvement in contrast sensitivity compared to a control clear lens.
The AcrySof IQ intraocular lens is designed to correct nearsightedness or farsightedness and reduce the common spherical aberration of the human eye.
The AcrySof IQ intraocular lens is designed to have the lens capsule “shrink wrap” around it. This helps the lens remain stable and centered within the eye.
The patented yellow color of the AcrySof IQ intraocular lens is biocompatible and bonded to the structure of the acrylic material.
The yellow color of the AcrySof IQ intraocular lens approximates the natural discoloration (i.e., natural yellowing) of a healthy adult crystalline lens, without negatively impacting color perception.
Contrast sensitivity and night driving are improved after implantation of the yellow-tinted AcrySof IQ intraocular lens.
The AcrySof IQ intraocular lens is compatible with secondary cataract treatment, known as a Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy, if required.
The AcrySof IQ lens is available in a wide range of optical powers, effectively correcting eyes that are nearsighted and farsighted. As each patient is unique, both in terms of physiology and viewing distance preferences, the correct power intraocular lens for your cataract surgery will be selected using state-of-the-art biometry equipment. An in-depth discussion of your needs and options will take place with your eye surgeon at East Valley Ophthalmology.
The AcrySof IQ lens is designed to enhance contrast sensitivity, reduce spherical aberration, and improve functional vision. The AcrySof IQ lens offers these advantages over traditional intraocular lens implants:
Contrast sensitivity refers to the ability to perceive objects that may not be readily distinguishable from their background. This would be perceived as an ability to differentiate between shades of gray in closely spaced images (as seen in the chart at the right).
