EyeWorld India March 2015 Issue

39 EWAP CATARACT/IOL March 2015 by Lauren Lipuma EyeWorld Staff Writer Latest advances in premium IOL technology continued on page 40 D. Ramamurthy, MD. Eric Donnenfeld, MD, explains the advanced optics of the Tecnis Symfony extended range of vision IOL. Damien Gatinel, MD, describes a new trifocal IOL that gives patients distance, intermediate, and near vision. Source (all): EyeWorld/APACRS Physicians discuss new possibilities in IOL technology at a recent meeting W ith IOL technology evolving rapidly, ophthalmologists can now offer spectacle independence at a wider range of distances than ever before. A session at the 2014 APACRS meeting, “IOLs: The Jewel in the Crown,” highlighted the latest advances in premium IOL technology and design, focusing on IOLs that provide additional focal points and those that reduce unwanted visual effects. When it comes to offering a full range of vision, true accommodating lenses are the solution, but these lenses are not available yet, said Eric Donnenfeld, MD , clinical professor of ophthalmology, New York University Medical Center, New York. “Accommodating lenses are the answer, but they just don’t exist,” Dr. Donnenfeld said. “If we had an accommodating lens, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today.” There are still several options for patients wanting spectacle independence. Dr. Donnenfeld described one such lens, the Tecnis Symfony extended range of vision IOL (Abbott Medical Optics, AMO, Abbott Park, Ill.). The lens is the first and only presbyopia-correcting extended range of vision lens, and allows for a continuous, full range of high-quality vision. The lens is available in a non-toric and toric version and is currently in trials in the U.S. Tecnis Symfony IOL patients have experienced high levels of spectacle independence at far, intermediate, and near distances, Dr. Donnenfeld said, and patient satisfaction has been incredibly high—97% of patients said they would elect to have the lens implanted again. Although patients do lose contrast sensitivity, some of that loss is gained back with proprietary achromatic technology that corrects chromatic aberration. The lens has an incidence of halos and glare comparable to a monofocal IOL, according to study results. No significant additional chair time is needed, according to information from AMO. Different technology Damien Gatinel, MD , assistant professor and head of anterior segment and refractive surgery, Rothschild Ophthalmology Foundation, Paris, described the FineVision diffractive trifocal IOL (PhysIOL, Liege, Belgium), which combines two apodized diffraction patterns—one for distance and near and one for distance and intermediate—to provide patients with distance, intermediate, and near vision. Dr. Gatinel co-designed the lens. Intermediate vision became a daily need in the computer age, Dr. Gatinel said, and its need grew further with the introduction of tablets and smartphones. Coincidentally, the FineVision IOL came to the market in 2010, the same year that Apple (Cupertino, Calif.) debuted the iPad, he said. The FineVision lens is a hydrophilic acrylic IOL with a blue and UV light filter that is inserted through a 1.8-mm incision. In