Refractive Lenses

Imagine being able to see without the help of glasses or contact lenses. A refractive lens is a replacement lens that works naturally with your eyes’ muscles to give you sharp, permanent, quality vision. Most modern lenses accommodate, allowing you to focus on objects near, far and all distances in-between. These lenses are called accommodative intraocular lenses, or IOLs.

Accommodative IOLs offered at Durrie Vision include the Acrysof ReSTOR IOL, Crystalens and the ReZoom Multifocal IOL.

The Accommodative IOL procedure

The medical procedure to implant accommodative IOLs is the same safe, proven cataract surgery performed annually on over 7 million eyes globally. Over 65 million procedures have been done in the US in the last 25 years.

Typically performed in an outpatient surgical facility, the actual surgery takes less than twenty minutes. In a pain free procedure, your doctor will place a few drops in your eye, then use an ultrasonic probe to remove the cloudy lens from your eye. The new IOL will then be gently placed where your original lens used to be.

Once surgery is complete, your doctor will place additional drops in your eye to prevent infection and decrease inflammation. Because the opening into the eye is so small, it heals quickly on its own, without any need for stitches.

Why we offer our patients accommodative refractive lenses:

These lenses offers significant advantages over other kinds of lens implants and corrective lenses.

• Standard (single vision) lens implants don’t have the ability to provide a full range of vision. Most people who have single vision lens implants MUST wear glasses for middle and near vision.
• The lenses can focus on objects at varying distances using the eye’s natural muscle. They provide sharp vision, without corrective lenses, throughout a full range of vision from near to far and everything in between.
• The quality of vision compared to wearing bifocals and/or trifocals is significantly improved. 

Phakic IOLs

In the Phakic IOL procedure, an intraocular lens is placed inside the eye. The patient's natural lens is not removed, as it would be in cataract surgery or refractive lens exchange. There are two lenses have received FDA approval. The Verisyse lens is placed in front of the pupil. The Visian implantable contact lens, or ICL, is placed between the iris and eye's lens.

Durrie Vision will be glad to answer any questions you have about refractive lenses.