Special Intraocular Lenses For Small Incisions

The trend toward minimally invasive surgery has been introduced in many fields of medicine, including ophthalmology. Cataract surgery has evolved over the last few decades from very large incision intracapsular cataract extraction to mini- and recently microincision cataract surgery (MICS) with an incision size of less than 2 mm. Recent innovations in phacoemulsification and intraocular lens technology have enabled this concept. Although cataract surgery can be performed through an incision less than 1 mm long, most IOLs require an incision of more than 2.0 mm in length.

Most MICS-IOLs are constructed of one-piece hydrophilic acrylic material. They used to have insufficiently sharp posterior optic edges and broad haptic-optic junctions that compromised the optic-edge barrier effect. Improvements in those designs have achieved better hydrophilic acrylic IOLs in terms of vision quality and prevention of posterior capsular opacity. Recently, a hydrophobic three-piece IOL, which features a slim haptic junction and a sharp optic edge, became available. This chapter reviews the characteristics of recently introduced microincision IOLs.

Further investigation is needed to improve the IOL design to match the microincision platform, without compromising vision quality.

Keywords: Cataract surgery, phacoemulsification, small incision, IOL, astigmatism, SIA.