Eyeworld Supplements

7 onsistency in nses What role does advanced technology play in your practice? cal. This is a proven platform that has seen advances, and we can likely expect more in the future. The breadth of the family of lenses is an attractive element because as surgeons use them on a routine basis, they become more accus- tomed to the handling properties, and they have a greater ability to have surgical expectations that are met and understand how the products will perform. The familiarity with the lens family can be helpful when surgeons step into a position where a patient has difficult anatomy or if they're using an advanced technology IOL for the first time. Knowing a new lens has consistent, proven proper- ties, they have a greater confidence in their ability to deliver the desired outcome. It's a nice element of the AcrySof—to have a fam- ily of lenses that goes from a very low diopter to a very high diopter power in a single-piece acrylic. Material advantages Being a hydrophobic acrylic lens, all of the AcrySof lenses are stable, both short and long term. This platform has no reported issues with calcifica- tion. The acrylic nature gives this lens a high index of refraction. The inherent flexibility of the lens allows it to be implanted through a small incision. The mechanical properties allow the material to be soft and pliable at body temperature, which makes the lens gentle on ocular structures as it is being implanted. Additionally, the element of material flexibility allows a surgeon who knows where the visual axis is to slightly nudge the lens into place a little more readily than he/she might be able to with other plat- forms. In my hands, I've found lenses with stiff haptics tend to center on the capsular bag, which may not coincide with the visual axis. In many routine cases, visual axis centration may not make a large difference, but in the cases that do benefit from this ability, the individ- ualized centration can have a big impact (particularly with the IQ Toric and IQ ReSTOR lenses). Because the AcrySof is a family of products, the newer user—either in residency or a trained surgeon—can gain a lot of experience with monofocal lenses and have more confidence when beginning to use the advanced technology platforms. The AcrySof IQ, a monofocal lens, is a single-piece lens that feels more resilient in my hands during implantation. There's little risk of damaged haptics, and it decreases the potential for intraocular damage —there's no appendage that can get caught or possibly break off during the implantation procedure. I prefer the one-piece because of the addi- tional stability. The one-piece design of the AcrySof platform gives me that extra element of control. It's nice to take that for granted. I've worked with all the itera- tions of various IOLs, and there can be some issues—as I tell my patients, these products are all made by human beings and as such they are not perfect. No matter which lens you're implanting, I find it helpful to communicate that a successful surgery will deliver excellent vision, AcrySof IQ ReSTOR IOL but it may not give the patient every single aspect he or she desires. My advice to other surgeons is to per- form meticulous surgery, analyze your results, and pay strict attention to lens power calculations. I regu- larly look at multiple formulas to help me decide which power lens to implant. From my perspective, a real benefit of the AcrySof family is that it gives surgeons an IOL platform across a range of advanced technol- ogy that shares the consistency I look for in a lens. Dr. Jones is president and medical director, Jones Eye Clinic, Sioux City, Iowa and Sioux Falls, S.D. Contact information Jones: jasonjonesmd@mac.com EW Chicago 2012 AcrySof IQ Toric IOL Alcon Sunday supplement_Chicago2012-12pages_Layout 1 4/20/12 4:51 PM Page 7

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