EYE-Q is now offering the Light Adjustable Lens to patients who are having cataract surgery.
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According to Dr. Frank Bishop, everyone will develop a form of a cataract - which is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye.
Cataract surgery will remove the cloudy lens and replace it with an artificial lens.
"It's done to help improve the quality of life, not just to clear the vision," said Dr. Bishop. "Patients often see better, can continue to work, have the ability to drive and maintain their independence - when we remove a cataract."
The lens is chosen before surgery, and the lens power is not a one-size-fits-all. The lens also can't be changed, once implanted.
Dr. Bishop said it causes some patients to still rely on glasses or contacts.
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The FDA-approved Light Adjustable Lens hopes to solve that issue.
"It gives you very good distance vision and intermediate vision, some near vision," explained Dr. Bishop. "It allows us to also adjust the focus of one or both of the eyes to improve the results."
This means the doctor can customize the lens prescription to meet that specific patient's vision needs.
The procedure is done with the lens in the eye and a beam of UV light from the Light Delivery Device.
"The light is programmed to get the proper prescription that we want to attain. That light is shown at that lens in a special pattern that will basically achieve those results." Dr. Bishop said.
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It's non-invasive and takes around 15 minutes.
Since the lens is adjusted by light, patients can try out different levels of vision to see what's best.
"It's just icing on the cake to know that we can do so without having to do additional surgeries or glasses or contact lenses," said Dr. Bishop.
EYE-Q already has around 10 patients scheduled to go into cataract surgery with the light adjustable lens.
The new technology is also offered at their locations in Clovis and Selma.
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