BLOG: First impression of Tecnis Synergy
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The first few cases with a new IOL are always exciting.
Recently, I had the opportunity to begin implanting Tecnis Synergy and Tecnis Synergy Toric IOLs (Johnson & Johnson Vision) in my practice, which is heavily focused on refractive lens surgery with presbyopia-correcting IOLs.
Tecnis Synergy is a novel, hybrid design that features both the echelette extended depth of focus (EDOF) technology we are familiar with from the Tecnis Symfony IOL and diffractive multifocal optics for near vision. It is the first and only IOL thus far to combine both of these technologies — something I’ve been working with Johnson & Johnson on for years as a member of the company’s global optics advisory board. The result is the broadest continuous range of vision and the most robust low-light reading vision available today among presbyopia-correcting IOLs in the U.S.
The lens takes advantage of a suite of new features called InteliLight, which includes a high-definition laser lathing process that decreases light scatter and halo intensity, achromatic technology for enhanced image contrast and violet light filtration (VLF). Early studies suggest that blocking high-energy ultraviolet and violet wavelengths may improve vision for driving, especially at night.
Initial impressions
The IOLs have a slight yellow hue to the naked eye, and one can see the VLF at the slit lamp. The toric version has the advanced Tecnis Toric II-style haptics that contribute to stability of the lens in the bag.
On the first postoperative day following our first implantations, 80% of our Tecnis Synergy cases were 20/20 and J1 or better, and of those, half were 20/15 and J1+ with a palpable “wow factor.” We are tracking outcomes carefully and look forward to reporting quantitative data in the near future.
Compared with other presbyopia-correcting IOLs, I think we will spend far less time counseling patients about “sweet spots” and the need for reading glasses in some situations. Of course, surgeons implanting Tecnis Synergy should still be careful to discuss with patients the possibility of dysphotopsia, as with any lens with diffractive multifocal optics. We can also expect that, because of its multifocal optics, it will not be quite as forgiving of residual error as pure EDOF IOLs have been.
It is great to have new options that continue to improve our ability to meet the full range of patients’ visual needs in a refractive lens practice.
- References:
- Canovas C, et al. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2019;60:3717.
- Faria-Ribeiro M, et al. Effect of blocking violet light in extended depth of focus intraocular lenses. Presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting; 2020.
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