The Crystalens
How well does Crystalens® work?
The Crystalens® was developed as a solution to adults with cataracts (clouded lenses) or lenses that, over time, become stiff or have aged to the point that they have lost enough flexibility to allow you to see properly. The Crystalens® can also be used in the treatment of presbyopia, which causes you to lose close up and midway vision. The Crystalens® has been approved by the FDA.
Our own human eyes were the inspiration for the creation of the Crystalens®. Your eye naturally uses the muscles around it to move with it, flexing and accommodating the eye so that it can focus on what you want to see at any given distance. Very much like your own eye, the Crystalens® uses your eye muscles to provide you with the ability to focus on what you want to see around you. In this way, the Crystalens® actively changes to suit your visual needs, allowing for you a more normal range of vision.
The Crystalens® is designed to be used with an intraocular lens that has hinges on each side which make it possible for the optic – that part of your eye’s lens that provides you with sight – to move around just like your eye and eye muscles naturally move around to focus on what you want to see. The lens of the Crystalens® allows this intraocular lens to move around as your eye focuses.
The Crystalens® is the only lens that gives you a single point of focus from close up to far away, and all the space in between. And because the Crystalens® is so much like your own natural eye, there are many people who may not need to wear glasses after surgery.
Other lenses available for implant are considered a multifocal lens, that is to say that they project multiple images that may not all be entirely in focus. This requires the brain to make an adjustment to the differences in the images and interpret them for you to see them. However, the Crystalens® is designed to focus one image only at the rear of your eye. With the Crystalens®, 100% of the rays of light are utilized, allowing the image you see to be sharper more clear.
The Crystalens® has proven effective after years of use and in clinical trials. Most patients who have received the Crystalens® implants were able to see well enough to put aside their eyeglasses. Many who received the Crystalens® implants in both eyes were able to read a newspaper without glasses and pass a driver’s license test without glasses. Even more patients discovered how easy it was to see mid-range distances. Overall, patients who received the Crystalens® lens implants have reported being able to see all distances better than those patients who received another IOL implant.
What can I expect in the Crystalens® Procedure?
Surgery for cataracts is one of the most common surgeries performed by doctors today. Your surgeon will use drops to numb your eye, and then make a small incision at the very edge of your eye’s cornea. Then your surgeon will use a solution to wash away your natural lens and the Crystalens® will then be implanted. The process usually takes place in about 15 minutes so you are not in surgery for very long at all.
Once your surgery is complete, it’s time for your recovery. Because the Crystalens® surgery is simple, you can expect a relatively short healing time. You will likely be able to resume your normal activities right after your surgery. You will have a follow up visit with your surgeon and discuss how your recovery is going.
The most significant change will be clear after your surgery, when you discover you are able to see everything more clearly and your vision will continue to improve even after your surgery.
Some Frequently Asked Questions
How is the Crystalens® different from other intraocular lenses? The Crystalens® is designed to provide your eye with the ability to focus on things at various distances. Because the Crystalens® uses your eye’s own natural focusing system it is more natural for your eye than other lenses.
Other lens implants lack the ability to restore your eye’s full range of vision and many patients with those single vision implants must continue to wear glasses in order to see things close up and at mid-range. In a two-year clinical trial the Crystalens® was shown to have provided a larger number of patients the ability to see better at all distances than those patients who received the standard lenses.
Will I be able to expect my vision to be 20/20 for both reading & distance?
While the Crystalens® was developed with the intent to provide focus for your eyes at all distances, nearly every patient will experience a significant improvement in their vision after surgery, but not all will be able to achieve 20/20 distance vision. However, most people who have not had lens surgery do not have 20/20 vision at all distances, even with corrective lenses.
What is most exciting is that most people who have had the Crystalens® surgery can do things they couldn’t do before, and without the additional help of glasses or contacts!
Am I a good candidate for Crystalens®?
Nearly everyone in good health and who has not already had cataract surgery will be a good candidate for lens implant surgery. To know for sure if you are a good candidate for the Crystalens® surgery your physician will do a complete examination and discuss with you a treatment plan that includes options that are best for you. If the Crystalens® surgery is a good option for you then your doctor will discuss that with you at length and answer all your questions as well.
Should I have the Crystalens® implant surgery in both eyes?
Your doctor will discuss these options with you during your visit. If you have cataracts in both eyes your doctor may suggest that you have the surgery in both eyes. Your doctor will perform your implant surgery on one eye and then on the second eye about two weeks later.
What can I expect on the day of my surgery?
The Crystalens® surgery itself takes about 15 minutes, and there are preparations before the surgery as well. You can expect your doctor to advise you to arrive about an hour before your surgery. You will be given some medication to help you relax and drops will be placed in your eye to prepare it for surgery.
You will be given a comfortable bed to lie down on in the surgery suite, and a microscope will be over your eye that you will be asked to look into. Your surgeon will use a device to hold your eyelid open so you can relax and not worry about blinking. This does not hurt at all; you will only feel the pressure of the device holding back your eyelids.
During the surgery you will want to focus on being relaxed. It might help to think about something that is distracting to you just so that you can pass the time during the surgery. And before you know it, you’ll be done! After the surgery is complete, more drops will be used in your eye to help protect it as it begins the healing process. You may be fitted with an eye patch and you will need someone to take you home.
After the surgery you’ll want to rest at home for the rest of the day and avoid activities. You will come back to the next day so that your doctor can check your eye to be sure that the healing has begun properly. You’ll be advised to avoid rubbing or touching your eye after your surgery.
How are my Crystalens® made?
The Crystalens® intraocular lenses have been designed and carefully manufactured with high-quality, precision standards that go beyond the standards other companies use to make their lenses.
You can be sure that every Crystalens® intraocular lens:
Is polished with “polishing beads” which are individually inspected by hand
Is taken through a 3-step cleaning procedure
Is tested for strength precision
Is individually examined before being packaged
Is the only high-quality lens offered in 0.25 diopters, which allows your surgeon the ability to make an exact match to your needs
With Crystalens® intraocular lens you can be sure that you and your surgeon have a premium quality lens.
