Trifocal Implant Lens for Cataract Patients

Implantation of an intraocular lens (IOL) after surgical removal of cataract via phacoemulsification surgery is the standard of care for cataracts, an age-related condition that results in clouding of the eye’s natural lens.

Although monofocal IOLs result in excellent distance acuity, patients usually require corrective spectacles for intermediate and near distances.

The goal of multifocal intraocular lenses (IOLs) was to provide clear and comfortable vision to patients at all viewing distances; this is often difficult to achieve. Vision at near and distance has been generally reported to be satisfactory, but intermediate vision was often problematic.

Intermediate vision has become an increasing concern for patients as a result of the proliferation of handheld devices and the increasing use of computers and tablets in daily life. This means that many patients who had traditional diffractive multifocal artificial lenses inserted into their eyes found they had good near vision and could see far away, but their middle-distance vision, for instance when they looked at a computer screen, was blurry. Many still had to use glasses and contact lenses to fill this gap. In addition, traditional multifocal lenses also cause too much glare for many people.

The trifocal implant has the advantage of offering clear intermediate as well as distance and near vision with minimal glare and haloes at night. The trifocal intraocular lens were designed such that the dioptric power of the near focal point was twice the dioptric power of the intermediate focal point.