The doctors of the East West Eye Institute are now pleased to offer AcrySof® ReSTOR® multifocal IOL technology to our cataract patients. This exciting technology allows simultaneous vision at both distance and near after cataract surgery, a result that cannot be achieved with standard IOL technology. Patients implanted with an AcrySof® ReSTOR® multifocal IOL are therefore much less dependent on glasses postoperatively than their standard IOL counterparts.

Before one can fully understand multifocal IOL technology, one must understand how the natural lens of the eye focuses light.

Below the age of 40, the natural lens has the ability to change shape and thus it can vary its focusing power. This ability to change shape is known as accommodation. It is what allows one to focus from a distant object to one at near or vice versa. Unfortunately, beyond the age of forty the natural lens loses its ability to accommodate and thus, the eye loses its ability to change focus from far to near. This age-related loss of accommodation is known as presbyopia. As presbyopia progresses, one may notice that small print and near objects become altogether blurry, and the only way to see them clearly is to hold them further and further from the eyes. Eventually our arms are “not long enough” and we have to resort to reading glasses.

After cataract surgery, standard IOLs act like the natural lens after it has lost its ability to accommodate or change focus. In other words, a standard IOL can provide good distance vision, or good near vision but not both simultaneously without the assistance of glasses. Therefore, cataract patients were guaranteed the need for glasses to see either distance or near postoperatively.

The AcrySof® ReSTOR® multifocal IOL is different however. It is designed to split the incoming light into a “distance” portion, and a “near” portion, thus enabling the patient to “choose” which image he/she would like to see. This enables one to have both distance and near vision at the same time with minimal dependence on glasses.

80% of patients who received an AcrySof® ReSTOR® IOL reported never wearing glasses after having the lens implanted in both eyes, compared to only 8% of patients who received standard lenses. However, as with many things, there may be a tradeoff – while you may gain clear vision throughout your visual range, you may experience some halos or glare. Most patients find these tradeoffs tolerable, but you should discuss this with the doctor.