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Investigational IOL designed to mimic human lens
The two-optic approach helps diminish PCO by maintaining separation between anterior and posterior leaflets of the capsular bag.
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An investigational IOL developed by LensGen mimics the ability of the natural lens to accommodate and increases focal range in patients with presbyopia, according to Uday Devgan, MD, the first surgeon to implant the device.
The Juvene IOL incorporates a modular “two-optic” approach: a fluid-filled front optic and a larger base optic. Data from the Grail trial presented at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting in San Diego showed the lens can reproducibly achieve 3 D of accommodation.
Data gathered over the past 4 years show the IOL can achieve a “wide range of vision,” surpassing the performance of monofocal and extended depth of field IOLs with fewer halos and less glare, LensGen CEO Ramgopal Rao told Ocular Surgery News.
The final iteration of the lens has been implanted in patients in the Grail study, and the company is raising capital for an FDA trial. The company expects to complete its investigational device exemption with the FDA by January 2020, Rao said.
The procedure
The base lens is inserted first through a standard 3-mm incision, filling the capsular bag.
“The same type of injector is used for the front lens, or what we call the ‘power lens,’” Devgan said, and the two lenses are coupled together with tabs in the lens design.
The procedure takes slightly longer than a traditional cataract surgery, Rao said, with the insertion of the front lens under three tabs adding perhaps 3 minutes to the surgery time.
Range of vision, adaptability
The lens itself does not have much movement, but it increases the curvature of the front lens, which gives the lens its range of dioptric power. The curvature of the lens is changed in response to stimuli from the ciliary muscle, mimicking the eye’s own lens, Devgan said.
Patients have experienced less posterior capsule opacification with this IOL, Devgan said, which can be attributed to the lens completely filling the capsular bag. The anterior and posterior leaflets of the capsular bag are kept apart and do not fuse together, which can prevent the capsule from refracting. Additionally, the lens has shown resistance to the vitreous shift that can occur with a typical 1-mm thin IOL implanted during standard cataract surgery.
“Also, should you need to, it’s a modular lens. You can swap out that front lens and put in a new one,” Devgan said. – by Robert Linnehan
- References:
- Devgan U. Dual optic, curvature changing, full range presbyopic IOL. https://cataractcoach.com/2019/03/14/dual-optic-curvature-changing-full-range-iol/. Published March 14, 2019. Accessed March 14, 2019.
- Donnenfeld ED. A new modular, curvature-changing, fluid-optic intraocular lens. Presented at: American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting; May 3-7, 2019; San Diego.
- For more information:
- Uday Devgan, MD, can be reached at Devgan Eye Surgery, 11600 Wilshire Blvd. #200, Los Angeles, CA 90025; email: devgan@gmail.com.
- Ramgopal Rao can be reached at LensGen, 15310 Barranca Parkway, Suite 200, Irvine, CA 92618; email: rrao@lensgen.com.
Disclosures: Devgan reports he is a stockholder in LensGen and IOLCalc.com. Rao reports he is the founder and CEO of LensGen.