Cataract: Simple and successful surgery with the intraocular lens
The cataract surgery is one of the most complicated treatments in the eye surgery: The surgeon must remove the clouded natural lens and replace it with an artificial lens, called an intraocular lens. Formerly, the problem of the artificial lens was the difficult accommodation, which means the adjustment to near and far vision
Modern artificial lenses have small, flexible brackets (called haptics), with which the lenses are able to accommodate – however, the insertion of the lens with such brackets brings about many difficulties during the surgery. If the brackets are very fine and flexible, the lens might change its position after the surgery and the accommodation is therefore limited; if the brackets are thick and rigid, they can hardly be used without damaging the eye. Doci Innovations has developed a solution to this problem: An intraocular lens with special “spring haptics” which is inserted by means of an injector.
The artificial lens of Doci Innovations is located inside of the injector, including the brackets. When the surgeon moves the lens out of the injector, the lens remains folded and enters the capsular bag - a membrane that encloses the lens – like this, the brackets cannot cause any damage. Only when the lens is located in the capsular bag, the haptics unfold and cling (just like to a natural lens) to the edges of the capsular bag.
The optimized unfolding of the haptics is enabled by their special material: They are made of a shape - memory alloy, a special metal that can apparently "remember" a previous shape. Initially, the brackets consisting of the shape - memory alloy lie firmly against the edge of the artificial lens. When the lens is inserted and thereby the body temperature is warmed, the haptics unfold automatically and take the correct position. The haptic can be referred to as the so – called “spring haptic”.
With this system, developed by Doci Innovations, focusing on an intraocular lens with a special haptic and an injector, the lens can be optimally adjusted after surgery to near and far vision - and is easy for the surgeon to use. It can be guaranteed that the lens is fixed against rotation inside of the eye. This has the advantage that it can also be designed for the correction of astigmatism - a very common defective vision based on the curvature of the cornea.