The custom cataract approach gives the patient the opportunity to obtain better quality vision than basic cataract surgery. This approach can minimize the need for prescription eyeglasses for distance vision after surgery. This particular type of surgery requires an extensive pre-surgery examination that helps the surgeon to determine how to address specific conditions such as astigmatism. Get started finding the right Cataract lens option for you! Take our Cataract Self-Test:
Most patients have some degree of astigmatism. Many patients know that they have astigmatism, but they are unsure of what that means. Astigmatism is an optical defect in which vision is blurred due to the inability of the optics of the eye to focus. There are different types of astigmatism, and the irregularity can occur in the cornea as well as the lens. Custom cataract surgery is often highly recommended for patients with astigmatism because a special lens is used in the surgery that corrects for the irregularity. The Cleveland Eye Clinic doctors use ORA during custom cataract surgery. ORA is a device used in the surgery room that acts like a gps for the surgeon. ORA improves the precision of the selection and positioning of the lens. Click here to learn more about ORA®.
Custom Cataract Surgery with the ORA System®
The Cleveland Eye Clinic doctors use a laser in their custom cataract surgery procedures. The catalys laser cataract system makes the cataract surgery lens procedure more precise and customized, yielding better visual outcomes. Click here to learn more about laser cataract surgery
The RxSight Light Adjustable Lens (LAL)
The Cleveland Eye Clinic surgeons were the first in the USA to implant the Light Adjustable Lens since FDA approval. The Light Adjustable Lens is an artificial lens that replaces your natural lens during cataract surgery. Like standard cataract implant lenses, your doctor will take measurements of your eye to help them to select the right Light Adjustable Lens to be implanted. However, unlike a standard cataract implant, the shape of the Light Adjustable Lens can be changed after surgery to reduce astigmatism after surgery to improve vision without glasses and reduce the chances that you will have large amounts of nearsightedness or farsightedness.
How Does the Light Adjustable (LAL) Lens Work?
The unique feature of the Light Adjustable Lens is that its shape and focusing characteristics can be changed after implantation in the eye using an office based UV light source called the LDD. The change in lens shape can reduce your astigmatism after surgery to improve vision without glasses and reduce the chances that you will have large amounts of nearsightedness or farsightedness. The LAL does not adjust its shape to reduce your need to wear glasses for close work. (E.G. reading and computer work) The LDD light treatment procedures will begin 17-21 days after your doctor has implanted the LAL. The LDD delivers UV light to the Light Adjustable Lens in your eye. You will undergo one to three adjustment light treatments over a period of 1-2 weeks, each lasting from 40 seconds to 2.5 minutes, depending on the amount of correction you still need after cataract lens surgery. Lock-in will then be performed to make the correction permanent, with lock-in light treatment lasting 90 seconds. You will need to wear special UV eyeglasses that protect your eye from UV light in the environment that could affect the performance of the LAL from the time of your cataract surgery to the end of the light.
