Premium IOLs, implanted correctly, can give the right patient a great visual outcome. But there are also risks attached. If a target refraction is missed, or a toric IOL is misaligned or rotates after implantation, you’ll be dealing with an unhappy patient – and everything else that follows. It’s no wonder that in many cases, the surgeon opts to exercise caution and choose to offer a monofocal IOL instead. But what if there were an IOL that could negate those risks? AcuFocus’ IC-8 IOL is a high-quality, single-piece, hydrophobic acrylic aspheric monofocal IOL with an opaque small aperture mask (or pinhole) embedded in the IOL optic. When implanted monocularly (and with a monofocal IOL in the fellow eye), the IOL’s small aperture design eliminates peripheral defocused light, allowing only central focused light to reach the retina. This novel application of the long-established pinhole principle of vision correction results in high-quality range of vision from far through near without blurry zones.
Importantly, this approach also provides surgeons with a soft refractive landing zone: they can be off by as much as 1.00 D from their intended refractive target and their patients will maintain good range of vision (1). The lens’ small aperture optics also provide relief from up to 1.50 D of corneal astigmatism (both pre-existing or surgically induced) without needing to align the lens to a specific axis or fearing lens rotation – the lens could rotate 180° and maintain its effectiveness! What this means is surgeons now have a lens that can simplify the astigmatism correction process for 83 percent of all cataract patients (2), as no marking or alignment is needed. Similarly, if astigmatism is induced, the small aperture optics mitigate its effect. These unique qualities make the IC-8 lens the simple, ideal solution for routine cataract patients as well as patients with regular and irregular corneal astigmatism. The IC-8 IOL can therefore be used to treat patients with keratoconus, corneal scars, and even post-refractive surgery and post-radial keratotomy eyes. The IC-8 IOL delivers on the promise of a premium solution for a broad spectrum of normal and therapeutic patients with the ease of use of a monofocal IOL.
IC-8® IOL in Action
Normal Eyes “Compared with diffractive IOL technologies, patients find it much easier to adapt to vision with the IC-8 IOL. It performs like a monofocal with respect to visual symptoms and a multifocal with respect to improving visual acuity.” – Sathish Srinivasan, MD
Corneal Astigmatism “Although the IC-8 lens is not a toric lens it can effectively compensate for up to 1.50 D of corneal astigmatism without the need for lens alignment or concern for post-op lens rotation. In my experience is, it more tolerant to the effects of cylinder than a monofocal or trifocal IOL.” – Robert Edward Ang, MD
Post-Refractive Eyes “For my post-LASIK patients who have previously enjoyed spectacle freedom for their daily activities, the IC-8 IOL maintains high quality distance vision without loss of intermediate and near vision. It is highly forgiving of a missed target refraction – which I find to be extremely beneficial in post-refractive surgery patients as lens power selection can be especially challenging.” – Tess Huynh, MBBS, FRANZCO
Irregular Corneas “The IC-8 IOL is my preferred choice for patients with irregular corneas such as keratoconus or PMD, higher order aberrations in the cornea, lack of stereopsis or abnormal endothelium (<2,200 cells/µm).” – Amir Parasta, MD
References
- HB Dick et al., “Prospective multicenter trial of a small-aperture intraocular lens in cataract surgery”, J Cataract Refract Surg. 43, 956–968 (2017). PMID: 28823444. W Hill, Keratometry database results of 6,000 cataract patients. Available at: https://doctor-hill.com/physicians/docs/Astigmatism.pdf
