Implants help restore youthful vision
First patients given ‘zoom lens’ in pioneering eye operations
LONDON — For many people, getting older brings a catalogue of vision problems that make everyday tasks such as reading and driving a serious challenge.
Now a lens implant that mimics the working of a youthful eye is giving sight back to people struggling with cataracts, astigmatism or long- and shortsightedness.
It is the first lens that corrects for all types of vision problems and can be inserted in a simple operation. It works at any distance and in any light conditions, acting more like a camera zoom than other multi-focal lenses which have three distinct points of focus.
Susan Wright, 57, a charity consultant from Macclesfield, Cheshire, is one of the first people in the world to test the new implant.
She had surgery on both eyes six weeks ago and had her final followup appointment with Brian Little, an ophthalmic surgeon, at the London Claremont Clinic this month.
Wright suffered from cataracts and struggled to see objects up close, which made driving almost impossible and working at a computer difficult.
“I have never had particularly good eyesight,” she said. “I had cataracts and longsightedness, and I would get a sense that there was a blank space in part of my vision.”
Wright said she stopped driving because she didn’t feel comfortable with it, especially during the dark. She also had trouble telling the difference between the numbers on a screen in spreadsheets.
“Now my mid- and longrange vision is absolutely excellent and I have been told my short-range vision will continue to improve. Colours are much brighter and everything is sharper,” she said. “I had planned to do a driving trip across the Pennines to see friends and I have achieved that now. And I can thread needles for the first time when I am sewing and read books and newspapers without reading glasses.”
The lenses are made of plastic and should never need to be replaced.
Users have the added benefits that after cataracts have been removed, they will not develop again.
Previous multi-focal lenses that can correct near and far vision have produced halo bursts and glare, and there is a notable jump when switching focus rather than the smooth focus of a natural eye.
The new implants have tiny circular grooves that change the way light is bent, a little like a series of concentric contact lenses of different strengths, allowing for a relatively seamless change when shifting focus.
The new lenses also allow more light to get through so that colours are easier to distinguish.
Recent clinical trials of the implant showed that 81 per cent of participants reported 20/20 long-distance vision after surgery; 98 per cent said they never needed glasses for distance vision, 96 per cent for middle distance and 73 per cent for near distance.