Multi-focal intraocular lens, and methods for making and using same

Abstract

An intraocular lens is provided that includes an optic body having anterior and posterior walls, a chamber, and optically transmissive primary and secondary fluids, and method for making and using the same. One of the fluids is a gas. The secondary fluid is substantially immiscible with the primary fluid and has a different density and a different refractive index than the primary fluid. The primary fluid is present in a sufficient amount that orienting optical body optical axis horizontally for far vision positions the optical axis through the primary fluid, thereby immersing the anterior and posterior optical centers in the primary fluid. The secondary fluid is contained in the optic body in a sufficient amount that orienting the optical axis over a range of effective downward angles relative to the horizontal for near vision positions the optical axis to extend through the primary fluid and the secondary fluid, thus changing the focus of the intraocular lens.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of 10 / 733,173 filed Dec. 10, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part of PCT / US02 / 17964, filed Jun. 7, 2002, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 158,574, filed in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office on May 30, 2002, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 139,144, filed in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office on May 3, 2002, the complete disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. [0002] This application claims the benefit of priority of provisional patent application 60 / 297,306 filed in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office on Jun. 11, 2001, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] 1. Field of the Invention [0004] This invention relates generally to bifocal and other multi-focal intraocular lenses, their production, and to their implantation and use in the eye. In particularly preferred ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The invention is an intraocular lens that can provide multi-focus vision without the need for external visual correction devices. The lens has a primary fluid and a secondary fluid, which have different refractive indices and densities. The lens is designed to change the effective power of the lens when the user's eye moves in different directions for far and near vision. This allows the lens to automatically focus on the appropriate object without the need for external devices. The intraocular lens can provide a natural motion of the eye and head without the need for external devices, and can adapt to different viewing angles for near and far vision."

Problems solved by technology

According to another theory, the physiological lens enlarges with age causing a decrease in working distance between the ciliary body and the lens, resulting in decreased focus ability for the same muscle action.

The ciliary body-zonules-lens complex becomes less efficient at accommodating the focus of these rays on the retina.

Aphakia is the condition in which the crystalline lens is either absent or, in very rare cases, displaced from the pupillary area so that it adversely affects the eye's optical focusing system.

With advancing age, the physiological crystalline lens tends to develop opacities—a condition known as cataractogenesis—which unless treated eventually leads to blindness.

However, current synthetic intraocular lenses lack the flexibility of a physiological crystalline lens.

As a consequence, it is difficult, if not impossible, for the ciliary muscle to focus current synthetic intraocular lenses in the same way as a physiological lens to adjust for objects near the pp.

Thus, conventional monofocal intraocular lenses provide little, if any accommodating ability.

However, “reading” glasses and contact lenses have the drawbacks of being inconvenient, uncomfortable, susceptible to loss and breakage, and in the case of glasses, aesthetically undesirable to some users.

One problem with these designs is the zones of far and near are present simultaneously on the retina, thereby resulting in some blur or visual distortion at distance and near.

Attempts to create a “focusing” intraocular synthetic lens have been less than successful, and presbyopia, whether age-related or in pseudophakia, continues to be a vexing problem within eye care with no highly successful solutions yet in existence.

Another drawback to intraocular lenses is that an eye that has received an implant for restoring the natural accommodation of the eye may have its refractive error changed by the process of the implantation itself.

In this event, the focusable implant may function properly, but the powers needed to achieve clear distance focus may not be the same as calculated prior to insertion of the implant.

For example, an IOL selected for an eye of a particular length that is to be operated on might not function to fully correct maximum distance vision after the eye has healed.

As the eye heals, the lens may settle off-axis, tilt, or translate further forward or backward than the surgeon intended, leaving a refractive error that will make it necessary for the patient to use distance corrective lenses to see clearly.

First of all, the devices are heavy and bulky making them difficult to use from an ergonomic perspective.

Second, the devices, such as those mounted on a pair of spectacles, may be considered aesthetically unappealing by some.

Third, the devices may distort or decrease the effectiveness of magnification, for example, in the case of spectacle-mounted telescopic devices in which there exists a vertex distance (the distance from the back of the lens to the front of the cornea).

Fourth, the devices limit the user's mobility as the telescopic devices are usually housed in a casing that limits the user's peripheral vision.

Fifth, in the example of near vision magnification, the devices are often housed in a hand held device, which requires the user to not have “hands free” use of the device, i.e., the user may have trouble holding a newspaper in one hand and a device in the other.

Sixth, current implantable telescope lenses are held within bulky housings, which decrease the user's peripheral vision and result in a significant decrease in the user's mobility.

Images