Hydrophilic IOL developed for injection through 2.2-mm incision

A lens featuring a double square-edge design and a specially polished surface allows easier injection and faster unfolding.

ByJared Schultz

A team of Italian ophthalmologists has been working with a specially designed hydrophilic acrylic IOL that they say provides stability in the eye, protects against opacification and can be injected through a 2.2 mm incision.

Two of the researchers working with the lens, Roberto Bellucci, MD, and Simonetta Morselli, MD, of the Hospital of Verona in Italy, said that previous hydrophilic acrylic lenses presented a variety of problems during injection in experimental studies.

“Hydrophilic acrylics were too big in volume and required too much pushing force to be injected,” they wrote in a report provided to Ocular Surgery News.

They said that the IDEA’Lens, developed by Swiss company Xcelens, has solved these issues and offers viable solutions to postoperative stability and posterior capsule opacification.

Good visual performance

The lens is an adaptation of previous designs, and features a 6-mm optic and a 13-mm overall length with a specially manufactured smooth surface, a refractive index of 1.461 in water and 25% water content.

“This lens behaved like it had pseudoplastic properties, and we suspect some water is expressed from the optic during injection and re-gained within the eye,” they said in the report.

The IDEA’Lens has a double-square-edge design to enhance protection against posterior capsule opacification.

“The Xcelens IDEA’Lens … did not induce any posterior capsule opacification during the 1-year follow-up period,” they said in the report.

According to Dr. Bellucci, he has performed 100 implants to date with this lens, and postoperative visual acuity and aberrations have been equivalent to previous lenses. He also said none of the patients have experienced dysphotopsia so far.

“Visual and aberrometric results have been excellent, confirming IOL optical quality and stability within the capsular bag,” he said.

Smoother injection

Early injector cartridges were designed so that the tip of the cartridge could be inserted into a 2.2-mm incision, but due to injection problems with previous lenses Xcelens redesigned the injector plunger.

According to Dr. Bellucci, the new plunger pushes the lens only to a point where it begins to open inside the eye.

“The elasticity of the material then acts as an extraction force to open the lens inside the eye, and there is no need for the plunger tip to reach the cartridge tip,” Dr. Bellucci said.

“The lens is polished differently, gaining smooth surfaces with a sharp edge,” Dr. Bellucci said in an e-mail interview. “The smooth surfaces allow the lens to open inside the anterior chamber, almost ‘extracting’ the optic from the cartridge.”

The IDEA’Lens and injector system are part of a program that Xcelens calls “Objective 2.2 mm.” The purpose of the program is to combine the benefits of coaxial surgery and small incision size so that surgeons do not have to compromise their original techniques.

For Your Information:

Roberto Bellucci, MD, can be reached at Unita Operativa di Oculistica, Piazzale Stefani 1, 37126 Verona, Italy; +39-045-807-3035; fax: +39-045-807-2289; e-mail: roberto.bellucci@mail.azosp.vr.it. He has no financial interest in any of the products mentioned in this article or in promoting the new surgical technique.

Xcelens S.A., maker of the IDEA’Lens, can be reached at Chemin des Aulx, 18, 1228 — Plan les Ouates, Geneva, Switzerland; +41-022-308-93-90; fax: +41-022-308-93-91; Web site: www.xcelens.net.

Jared Schultz is an OSN Staff Writer who covers all aspects of ophthalmology. He focuses geographically on Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.