What are intraocular lens implants? Intraocular lens implants are artificial lens used to replace a damaged crystalline lens brought about by different factors. Crystalline lens is a membrane found in the eye that is responsible in refocusing the light in order to have a better vision. This lens is responsible in refracting light to be focused on the retina and also, this changes the focal distance in order to visualize objects at various distances.
Intraocular lens implants have different implants namely, monofocal lens, toric lens and multi-focal lens. Each type of intraocular lens implants has distinct characteristic. These intraocular lens implants will be used depending on the condition of a client. These implants are usually placed immediately after removal of the crystalline lens. People with cataract are the usual recipient of these implants.
The first type of intraocular lens implant is the monofocal lens. This is the most common type of intraocular lens implant. This type of intraocular lens implant has an equal power in all regions thus correcting a single type of vision problem, could be nearsightedness also known as myopia, or farsightedness also known as hyperropia. A monofocal type of intraocular lens implant does not correct astigmatism; this is the primary disadvantage of this type of intraocular lens implant. With this type of intraocular lens implant, the user is still advised to use conventional glasses that can correct significant astigmatism.
The second type of intraocular lens implant is the toric lens. This type of lens has more power on a specific region of the lens which can correct significant astigmatism. Indeed, this is the major advantage of this type of lens since this is clinically proven to reduce astigmatism or even correct thus improving the individual’s vision. The implantation of this intraocular lens type must be well calculated and precise in order to successfully correct the astigmatism. But the major drawback of this type of intraocular lens implant is that it may rotate and be out position and it must be nudged back in order to avoid discomfort and gain vision though this rarely happens at about less than one out of a hundred.
The third type of intraocular lens implant is the multifocal lens. This type of intraocular lens implant is a different one compared to the two mentioned above, this lens has two different powers on both the center of the artificial lens and the peripheral part thus making it possible to focus both on near and far objects. This type of intraocular lens implant can correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and even presbyopia. The major drawback of this intraocular lens implant is that it has more side effects as compared to other types of lens.
These intraocular lens implants are widely used nowadays. It is an undeniable fact that cataract is very rampant at present especially among the elderly. They are the common victims of such condition in which removal of the damaged crystalline lens is the only known and effective medical management therefore replacing it with an intraocular lens implant would be a necessity.