What is ReSTOR IOL?

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New advances in vision correction – the ReSTOR® intraocular lens

As people age, many experience changes to their vision that cause blurring, distortion and difficulty reading. These changes are often related to the normal effects of ageing, but may also include the formation of opacities in the human lens. Most people over 50 are required to wear increasingly powerful glasses, bifocals or trifocals as ageing continues to affect quality of vision.

New advances in vision correction are providing alternatives to those who wish to maintain an active lifestyle by permanently reducing or eliminating their dependence on glasses or contact lenses. The introduction of an intraocular lens that restores a controllable range of accommodation after cataract or clear lens surgery has been long awaited in the ophthalmology world.

Functioning of the eye

The eye functions much like a camera. A camera must be continually re-focused as images get closer to the lens. The primary structures responsible for focusing images in the eye are the ciliary muscle and the human lens. The process of refocusing is called “accommodation”. As we look at objects at different distances, the human lens automatically changes shape and position in the eye to produce a clear image.

About cataracts

Ageing diminishes the eye’s ability to accommodate as the lens within the eye loses clarity. Due to the natural deterioration of the proteins within the lens, what was once clear tissue becomes more like frosted glass or a dirty windscreen. The cloudy lens is called a cataract. Light becomes scattered by the cataract and can no longer reach the back of the eye as effectively. Consequently, glasses or bifocals are required for reading. In the event that the human lens must be replaced with an artificial lens due to increasing opacification, the ability to accommodate is completely lost.

The ACRYSOF® ReSTOR® Intraocular Lens – restoring a full range of vision

The ACRYSOF® ReSTOR® Intraocular Lens (IOL) represents a unique, technological breakthrough in vision correction as it provides a range of focus across the full spectrum– near, intermediate and distance – without relying on ciliary muscle movement as a mechanism to move the lens.

This allows patients to not only see clearly at a distance, but also to perform near and mid range tasks such as reading, working on a computer or shopping with little or no need for glasses.

The unique design of the ACRYSOF ReSTOR Lens provides most (80 per cent) patients with the ability to see close up and in the distance without glasses.

Prior to the availability of the ReSTOR lens, the primary option available for IOL surgery was a monofocal IOL. Monofocal IOLs provide the patient with only distance vision, similar to the natural loss of near vision with age (known as presbyopia). In contrast, the ReSTOR lens provides patients with a full range of vision – near, intermediate and distance.

Lens material and design

The AcrySof lens is a biocompatible lens made of a patented material developed specifically for the eye. The AcrySof family of lenses is the most commonly used IOL in the world. Surgeons have implanted more than 17 million lenses from the AcrySof family since the material became available in 1994.

Consultation

Patients seeking surgery for cataract or Clear Lens Extraction will be offered the ReSTOR® lens by the surgeon if this is considered to be the best option for achieving their visual goal. The pre-operative care, operative experience and post-operative management is virtually unchanged from routine cataract surgery.

After discussing the procedure with a surgeon and deciding to proceed, the patient must undergo keratometry and immersion ultrasound examinations. These measure specific parameters of the eye that are used to determine the correct power lens for a patient’s eye.

IOL surgery

Intraocular lens (IOL) surgery is an outpatient procedure (performed in a day surgery) whereby the natural lens is removed and replaced with an IOL. The eye is treated with anaesthetic drops so the patient feels little or no discomfort. The patient also receives I.V sedation administered by an anaesthetist. A tiny incision is made in the eye through which the surgeon inserts an instrument about the size of a pen tip to remove the lens. The surgeon then replaces the patient’s original lens with the new, artificial ReSTOR IOL.

The procedure itself takes approximately 10 minutes. Patients should expect to be in day surgery for around three to four hours. After surgery, the patient is required to rest for a short time and later return home the same day. The patient must revisit their doctor within 24 hours post-surgery for an evaluation. Drops are prescribed to guard against infection and to help the eye heal. The ReSTOR lens can be implanted into the eyes one week to one month apart.

Visual results

The vision provided by the ReSTOR® lens is influenced by a number of variables, and visual results will vary from one person to the next. Most people will have excellent distance vision and will have much improved near and intermediate vision without corrective lenses (glasses).