Want to Ditch Your Glasses After Cataract Surgery? This New Artificial Lens May Help

AHA Publisher — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 08:00:29 +0000

American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) via Newswise – NEW ORLEANS, La. – Cataract surgery is one of the most successful medical procedures performed in the United States, with nearly 4 million Americans choosing to have their cataracts removed every year. While the procedure has a success rate of about 97 percent, it is not uncommon for people to still need glasses after surgery, especially reading glasses. A new study released at AAO 2021, the 125th annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, showed that a new kind of artificial lens allowed over 90 percent of patients to see well enough that they no longer needed glasses. A cataract is the clouding of the eye’s natural clear lens. During cataract surgery, an ophthalmologist surgically removes the cloudy lens and replaces it with an artificial lens called an intraocular lens (IOL). The most common IOL type is a monofocal IOL and it allows people to see well at distance, but it can’t fix presbyopia, that annoying part of aging that slowly robs people of their near vision. Researchers have been working for years to develop a presbyopia correcting IOL that can correct the full range of vision: up close, at arms-length, and far away. While these presbyopia correcting IOLs can correct near or intermediate vision, they don’t effectively correct the full range of vision. This new IOL attempts to change that by combining two presbyopia-correcting IOL technologies, multifocal and extended depth-of-focus, to achieve full vision correction. It’s called the Tecnis Synergy from Johnson & Johnson Vision. The U.S. FDA approved the Tecnis Synergy IOL in May 2021. In the study presented today, researchers in Bakersfield, Calif. and 14 other sites across the U.S. compared visual outcomes in patients who received either a monofocal IOL or the new presbyopia correcting IOL during cataract surgery. Of the 272 patients enrolled in the study, 88 percent of those who received the Tecnis Synergy presbyopia correcting IOL never used glasses compared with just 3 percent in the monofocal IOL group. “My career goal has always been to conquer presbyopia—before it conquers me,” said lead researcher Daniel H. Chang, MD. “This lens is a key addition to our ability to treat presbyopia. The Tecnis Synergy provides the best near vision of any lens I’ve ever used. For patients not wanting glasses, this is the lens I recommend.” To read the original article click here.

The post Want to Ditch Your Glasses After Cataract Surgery? This New Artificial Lens May Help appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Study Finds That Special Filters in Glasses Can Help the Color Blind See Colors Better

AHA Publisher — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 07:00:42 +0000

University of California – Davis Health via EurekAlert – A new UC Davis Eye Center study, conducted in collaboration with France’s INSERM Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, found that special patented glasses engineered with technically advanced spectral notch filters enhance color vision for those with the most common types of red-green color vision deficiency (“anomalous trichromacy”). Notably, the ability to identify and experience expanded color was also demonstrated when color blind test subjects were not wearing the glasses. At least eight in 100 men (8%) and one in 200 women (0.5%) suffer from red-green color vision deficiency (CVD), totaling 13 million in the U.S. and 350 million worldwide. While those with normal color vision see in excess of one million hues and shades, those with CVD see a vastly diminished range of colors. People with CVD experience colors as more muted and washed out, and some colors cause confusion or are more difficult to differentiate. With an undergraduate and graduate student body of nearly 40,000, UC Davis has an estimated 1,700 students with red-green CVD. The study evaluated the impact of spectral notch filters on enhancing the chromatic responses of observers with red-green CVD over two weeks of usage. The filters (EnChroma glasses) are designed to increase the separation between color channels to help people with color blindness see colors more vibrantly, clearly and distinctly. The research, published in Current Biology, had CVD participants wear the special filter glasses or placebo glasses. Over two weeks, they kept a diary and were re-tested on days 2, 4 and 11 but without wearing the glasses. The researchers found that wearing the filter glasses increased responses to chromatic contrast response in individuals with red-green color blindness. It is unclear how long the improvement lasts without wearing the filters, but the evidence shows that the effect persists for some time. “Extended usage of these glasses boosts chromatic response in those with anomalous trichromacy (red-green color vision deficiency),” said John S. Werner, distinguished professor of ophthalmology and a leader in vision science at UC Davis Health. “We found that sustained use over two weeks not only led to increased chromatic contrast response, but, importantly, these improvements persisted when tested without the filters, thereby demonstrating an adaptive visual response.” Werner noted that this effect cannot be achieved with broad-band filters sold as aids to the color blind. He and his research colleagues believe the study’s findings suggest that modifications of photoreceptor signals activate a plastic post-receptoral substrate in the brain that could potentially be exploited for visual rehabilitation. “When I wear the glasses outside, all the colors are extremely vibrant and saturated, and I can look at trees and clearly tell that each tree has a slightly different shade of green compared to the rest,” said Alex Zbylut, one of the color blind participants in the study who got the placebo glasses first and then tried the special filter version afterwards. “I had no idea how colorful the world is and feel these glasses can help color blind people better navigate color and appreciate the world.” Reactions from other participants about their experiences with the glasses can be found in the Supplement section of the Current Biology article. To read the original article click here.

The post Study Finds That Special Filters in Glasses Can Help the Color Blind See Colors Better appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

eye glasses Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Want to Ditch Your Glasses After Cataract Surgery? This New Artificial Lens May Help

Study Finds That Special Filters in Glasses Can Help the Color Blind See Colors Better