The extended depth of focus lens will be launched with a limited commercial release in the fall.
The IOL has small-aperture technology that filters out peripheral defocused light, which allows only focused light to reach the retina, the release said. In the U.S. investigational device exemption study, which included 453 participants and evaluated the effectiveness and safety of the lens, the Apthera IOL implanted in one eye and a monofocal or monofocal toric IOL in the fellow eye achieved statistically superior uncorrected intermediate and near vision compared with a control group with monofocal or monofocal toric IOLs in both eyes. Participants with the Apthera IOL also had equivalent distance vision and contrast sensitivity as the control group.
“The Apthera IOL represents several firsts for surgeons and patients: the first small-aperture IOL to receive FDA approval, the first lens indicated for implantation with a monofocal or monofocal toric IOL in the fellow eye, the first extended depth of focus lens indicated for monovision, and the first non-toric IOL indicated for cataract patients with low amounts of corneal astigmatism,” Al Waterhouse, president and CEO of AcuFocus, said in the release.