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What is Cataract?
Cataract is the loss of transparency of the lens that provides us to see the image coming from to the retina. The iris, which forms the colored part of the eye, consists of various chemical changes in the proteins in the structure of the eyepiece located behind it. As a result of these changes, high levels of weighted “molecular protein clusters” occur. It loses the eye transparency that occurs with this change in the texture of the lens. Light does not reach the retina in a healthy way and vision loss occurs. The main reason for this situation is that the distribution of light entering the eye decreases as a result of staining and the image does not fall into the retina in a healthy way.
Vision blur should be treated when it reaches a certain level. As the disease progresses, adaptation to light slows down and vision difficulties occur in little light. If the patient is not treated, the patient will not be able to perform his daily activities. As a result, if we think of our eyes as a camera, we can see cataracts as the icing of the lens in front of the machine.
Our eye lens is the earliest aging tissue. Even in people without vision problems, people in their early 40s may have trouble with vision problems. The need for close glasses may occur. After that, the risk of developing the disease increases very high in the eye lens, which begins to lose its transparency from the age of 60. From this point of view, it is right to say that cataracts are both a disease and a natural consequence of our aging. Therefore, cataract surgery is one of the most applied surgeries in the world.
What are the Symptoms of Cataracts?
The head of cataract disease; it begins with loss of vision, slight blurry, fading in perceived colors, especially dispersion in night lights. In the advanced stages of the disease, both close and distant vision are severely impaired. For people with cataracts, vision is like looking out an icy window. As the disease, blurred vision caused by cataracts makes it difficult to read, drive and see details. Most cataracts develop slowly, and in the early period, the blurring of vision does not disturb the person. The general symptoms of cataract disease are as follows:
- Difficulty reading
- Decreased vision
- Sensitivity to light
- Double vision
- Fading and yellowing of colors
- Frequent change of glasses numbers
- Impaired night vision
How is Cataract Treatment?
Surgery is the only permanent method for treating cataracts. Most ophthalmologists recommend having cataract surgery when cataracts begin to affect the patient’s quality of life, and your normal daily activities (such as reading a book or driving at night).
Because the definitive and permanent treatment of cataracts is a surgical method. It can not be treated with medication or glasses. There is no effective method that can stop its progress. Cataract surgery method is fako method, known as seamless surgery performed with laser. With the FAKO method, the intraocular lens, which has lost its transparency, is melted by ultrasound and replaced with a stretchable intraocular lens. Cataract surgery is performed under operating room conditions and with special surgical microscopes.
Laser technology is important for cataract treatment. Another important element is the technology of the lenses that will be placed in the eye. It is one of the basic elements that determines the quality of treatment for the patient. Patients are offered treatment options where they can see far, near and medium distances with surgical intervention.
The operation is performed by selecting one of the intraocular lenses suitable for the patient’s choice and patient’s general health condition. Intraocular lenses are divided into three with a single focus, double focus and three focuses. As a result of the use of three-focus trifocal lenses, patients do not have to use glasses as a result of treatment.
How Do Smart Lenses Work?
Light entering the eye from different distances is naturally refracted and merges into a single point on the retina. Thus, we perceive and understand the image. Our natural lens in eyes makes this by flexing itself. The same principle also applies to the smart lens. It makes it possible to focus the light coming from far, near and middle distance with a single lens. With Smart Lenses,
it is possible to adjust the focal distances where the patient has problems. In addition, smart lenses can be selected according to the eye type of the person. In other words, smart lenses can be customized according to the needs of the person. Thence, they eliminate the need for multiple different distance glasses.
How to Decide the Lens to Be Used for Surgery?
All lenses used in surgeries have different characteristics. The artificial lens placed in the eye stands inside the eye throughout the patient’s life. The choice of lenses before cataract surgery is a decision that will affect your whole life. Therefore, you should make a decision by caring about the advice of the doctor
What are The Features of Intraocular Lenses?
We can divide the lenses used in the treatment into three groups:
- With single-focus lenses called monofocal, the patient sees far, but in order to see the close distance (for example, the book etc.) the patient has to wear close glasses to read newspapers.
- Bifocal lenses are two-oriented, close and far; the patient sees both the near and the far without glasses, but the distance between 40 cm and 2 meters, which we call the middle distance, cannot be seen.
- Trifocal lenses, which we call Smart Lenses, are three-oriented and are the lenses that solve this problem. When this lens is inserted, the patient can see the far distance, close and middle distance (distance between 40 cm and 2 meters) well without glasses.
Smart Lens
Intraocular lenses, which are called “Smart Lens”, have been used for suitable patients in cataract surgeries for a long time. On the other hand, new generation smart lenses offer the opportunity to solve multiple focus problems, not a single focus problem.
What is Smart Lens (Intraocular Lens)? Why Do We Need Smart Lenses?
Every person has a natural lens inside the eye, and this lens is both transparent and elastic. Because of this flexibility, this lens can change shape and focus on the distance viewed at every near and far view. In this way, we can see both far and near distances.
With advancing age; first, the natural lens in the eye loses its flexibility. After a while, it can’t change shape when looking near and can’t focus near distances. As time passes, it also loses its transparency in older ages and cataracts occur in the eye.
Around the age of 40, it loses its flexibility and It can replace a lens with a new natural intraocular lens. An artificial lens called Smart Lens is placed in the deformed natural lens. This new lens can focus on both distance, intermediate and near. Cataract will not occur in the future in the patient who has a Smart Lens (Intraocular Lens).
To Whom Can Smart Lens Be Applied?
Patients over the age of 40 who have vision problems at distance, near or both and who have vision problems at intermediate distances can be treated. Each eye with a Smart Lens will be able to see both far and near by itself.
For younger than the age of 35-40 patients, if the eye number is too high to be corrected with laser, Smart Lens treatment can be applied.
People who have had eye laser surgery before, might also prefer Smart Lens. If the patient has cataracts and wants to see both far and near without glasses, Smart Lens can also be applied.
How to Perform Smart Lens Operation?
Smart lens treatment is the process of placing a multifocal lens during surgery on patients with cataracts. With this procedure, the patient’s do not need glasses after surgery.
Even if they do not have cataract problems yet, vision problems for different distances can be treated by placing Smart Lenses.
The method used in smart lens surgery is the phacoemulsification method. For each eye, it processes different days, and that takes about 10 minutes. First, the eye is anesthetized with eye drops. In this way, patients do not feel any pain during the procedure. There is no general anaesthesia, stunning or hospitalization. In the operation, a Smart Lens is attached to the socket of the lens inside the eye. After the surgery, the eye will bandage and the patients can go home safely. One night the eye is going to stay bandaged and the next day the bandage is taken from the eye. The patient starts to see on the same day. Within a few days, the same procedures applies to the other eye and treatment ends.
What should Pay Attention to After Surgery?
Regular use of eye drops prescribed to patients is important. The first week should not be lying face down. The eye should not be contacted with water for 5 days. Patients can return to their routine work life after 2 days. The next day, the first check-up of the patient is carried out by the physician. Routine checks continue after one month and 6 months later.
What is the Importance of Trifocal(Multi-Focus) Lens?
The most important feature of smart lenses is that they provide vision at intermediate distances. Vision is also provided at distances where the quality of vision should be most important, such as computer usage distance, television viewing distance, access distance to kitchen counter.etc.
Smart lenses (multifocular intraocular lenses) are used to treat cataracts and eliminate multi-focus vision problems.