Variable power lens combinations for accommodating intraocular lenses.

Abstract

The accommodating intraocular lens with a combination of variable power lenses includes, first, a variable lens including cubic surfaces attached to two optical elements to vary the focal power by lateral shift of the elements, and, second, a variable lens including a spherical lens attached to the same elements to vary the focal power by axial shift of the elements. A mechanical arrangement including a hinge provides for both shifts of the elements.

Description

[Background technology]

[0001] Accommodating intraocular lenses provide variable focal refractive power ("variable power") to the eye through a variable power lens ("variable lens"), restoring accommodation to the eye and typically, but not necessarily, also correcting refraction in eyes where the natural crystalline lens has been removed.

[0002] Accommodating intraocular lens configurations can include multiple optical elements, each equipped with at least one rotationally asymmetric, free-form cubic optical surface. The combination of two such cubic optical surfaces provides a lens with variable optical power, the degree of which is determined by the shifting of the optical elements relative to one another in opposite lateral directions, i.e., opposite degrees of shifting in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis. Such intraocular variable lenses are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2008046076 and WO2005084587. Other accommodating intraocular lens configurations include optical elements, each equipped with a generally spherical optical surface. For example, as disclosed in WO2011062486 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20020002404, a combination of a convex spherical surface and a concave spherical surface provides a lens with variable optical power, the degree of which is determined by the degree of opposite axial shift of the elements along the optical axis, with the element with the convex spherical surface shifting in an anterior direction, i.e., toward the cornea, and the element with the concave spherical surface shifting in a posterior direction, i.e., toward the retina. Alternatively, both elements may be provided with convex spherical surfaces, and both elements may be shifted in an anterior direction to provide variable optical power, the degree of which is determined by the degree of axial shift.

[0003] It should be noted that accommodating intraocular lenses may also comprise fluid-filled variable optics, for example, as described in U.S. Patent No. 1,562,252,260 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019,374,333. Such fluid-filled variable optics may also be included in the configurations disclosed herein. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] A first object of the present invention is to provide an improved lens design.

[0005] A second object of the present invention is to provide an intraocular lens design that provides enhanced optical accommodation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention provides an accommodating intraocular lens design including an optical axis, the lens design comprising: - comprising at least two optical elements coupled to each other by at least one elastic haptic; At least one optical element, and preferably each optical element, At least one optical surface that at least partially comprises a cubic or freeform shape, At least one optical surface that includes an at least partially spherical shape; Including, the at least one haptic is configured to cooperate with at least one actuation means in the eye, the actuation means including at least one natural actuation means and / or artificial actuation means; The present invention discloses a lens configuration in which at least one haptic includes at least one hinge, and the hinge is configured to convert a shift of the driving means in the eye into a lateral and / or axial shift of at least two optical elements (relative to each other) upon shifting of the driving means, wherein the lateral shift is a shift in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis and the axial shift of the optical elements is a shift in a direction along the optical axis.

[0007] Lateral and / or axial shift can be understood as a movement in a lateral and / or axial direction. Lateral should be understood as a direction perpendicular to the optical axis. Axial should be understood as a direction along the optical axis.

[0008] The lens configuration first comprises a combination of at least two partially cubic optical shape surfaces, preferably at least two substantially cubic optical shape surfaces, which provide a lens with variable optical defocusing power, the degree of which is determined by the degree of opposite shifting of elements in the lateral direction.

[0009] The lens configuration also secondarily comprises a combination of at least two at least partially spherical optical surfaces, preferably at least two nearly spherical optical surfaces, which provide a lens of variable optical power, the degree of which is determined by the degree of axial shift of the elements, which may be in the same direction along the axis or in opposite directions along the axis.

[0010] The haptics may be configured to translate a shift of the actuation means into some combination of a lateral shift of the element and an axial shift of the element.

[0011] In an embodiment, the shift of the at least one drive means may be a lateral shift and / or an axial shift.

[0012] The present invention relates to an accommodating intraocular lens configuration comprising a combination of a cubic variable lens and a spherical variable lens attached to two optical elements (to vary focal power). The combination includes at least one cubic variable lens with at least one cubic optical surface attached to at least one element, preferably each element. The combination also includes at least one spherical variable lens with at least one spherical lens attached to at least one element, preferably each element.

[0013] Cubic variable lenses vary their refractive power by shifting their cubic surfaces relative to one another in opposite lateral directions, i.e., perpendicular to the optical axis, while spherical variable lenses vary their refractive power by shifting at least one spherical surface in the axial direction, i.e., along the optical axis.

[0014] Reference herein to cubic surfaces and / or cubic variable lenses may be taken to include surfaces formed according to the shape of a graph obtained from a cubic equation, which may be referred to herein as cubic, cubic optical shapes, and / or (partially) cubic and / or freeform and / or cubic optical shapes.

[0015] The lens configuration includes a mechanical structure to which elements including variable lenses can be attached. The mechanical structure includes at least one elastic haptic, which positions the lens configuration in the eye and transmits shifts of the driving means in the eye to at least one element, preferably each element. The haptic can include multiple hinges, particularly a combination of two hinges, which convert a lateral shift of the driving means into a lateral shift of at least one element and convert the same lateral shift of the driving means into an axial shift of at least one element. Alternatively, in an embodiment, at least one haptic can include a single hinge, which provides the dual function of shifting the optical element laterally and axially.

[0016] Thus, in an embodiment, the present invention relates to an accommodating intraocular lens configuration having an optical axis, the lens configuration comprising at least two optical elements that can be connected to each other by at least one elastic haptic, each element being fitted with at least one optical surface that conforms to a cubic optical shape, and each element being fitted with at least one optical surface that conforms to a spherical optical shape, the haptics including at least one hinge, the hinge being configured to convert a shift of the actuation means in the eye into a combination of a lateral shift of the elements, i.e., a shift perpendicular to the optical axis, and an axial shift, i.e., a shift along the optical axis.

[0017] Both optical elements may include spherical optical surfaces with positive refractive power. In combination with mechanical features such as hinges and / or haptics, the intraocular lens configuration of the present invention may be configured to shift both elements in the same direction along the optical axis. Alternatively, one optical element, typically the anterior optic, may include a spherical optical surface with positive refractive power, and the other element may include a spherical optical surface with negative refractive power, with the haptics of the mechanical feature configured to shift both elements in opposite directions along the optical axis. The concave spherical surface may also compensate for the additional refractive power of the overpowered convex spherical surface in the anterior optic to ensure emmetropia of the eye when the lens configuration is in a resting state, i.e., provide clear vision to the distance eye when the lens configuration is in a resting state. It should be noted that the cubic and spherical optical surfaces may be distributed differently on the four surfaces of the optical element, or optical surfaces may be combined. For example, a spherical surface may be combined with a free-form cubic surface.

[0018] Applying a combination of at least two generally cubic optical shape surfaces provides a lens with variable optical defocusing power, where the degree of optical defocusing power is determined by the degree of opposite lateral shift of the elements. Applying a combination of at least two generally spherical optical shape surfaces provides a lens with variable optical power, where the degree of optical power is determined by the degree of axial shift of the elements. Both elements can include a mechanical configuration, i.e., a convex spherical surface with haptics, configured to shift both elements in the same direction along the optical axis, or one optical element includes a convex spherical surface and the other element includes a concave spherical surface, where the mechanical configuration is configured to shift both elements in opposite directions along the optical axis.

[0019] At least one haptic can convert a shift of at least one actuating means into a lateral shift of the optical element in opposite directions, the haptic can convert a shift of the actuating means into an axial shift of the optical element in opposite directions, or the haptic can convert a shift of at least one actuating means into an axial shift of the optical element in the same direction.

[0020] At least one haptic may include a combination of two independent hinges to independently provide lateral and axial shifts of the optical element, or the elastic haptic may include a single hinge configured to provide both lateral and axial shifts of the optical element. Note that drive means in the eye, such as the ciliary muscle, can shift laterally and axially. At least one haptic may be configured to convert lateral shifts into lateral and / or axial shifts of the element. At least one haptic may be configured to convert axial shifts into lateral shifts of the element.

[0021] The driving means of the lens arrangement may be natural components of the eye, such as the ciliary muscle and / or the lens capsule, or other natural driving components in the eye, or some combination of such natural driving means, or the driving means may be artificial driving means, such as electromechanical MEMS components.

[0022] The lens configuration may be designed to restore the combined accommodation and refraction of the human eye by adding spherical refractive power, and each optical element may include at least one additional freeform surface that corrects or enhances some variable aberration (other than focus), for example, variable aspherical aberration and / or variable toric aberration.

[0023] The lens configuration can completely replace the function of the natural lens after its removal. In an embodiment, the lens configuration according to the present invention is an add-on lens. Such a lens can restore accommodation as an add-on lens in combination with the natural lens or in combination with a fixed-focus lens, which replaces the natural lens, for example, with a standard monofocal intraocular lens placed in the lens capsule, and the lens configuration is placed on the anterior sulcus of the lens capsule.

[0024] At least one hinge may be elastic, ensuring that the hinge can be temporarily deformed by compression or elongation while retaining the ability to return to its original shape before deformation. Thus, the hinge can be compressed, for example, by the ciliary muscle and / or the lens capsule, thereby shifting the optics relative to each other.

[0025] The at least one hinge can include a front hinge and a rear hinge, where the front hinge is attached to a first side of a front optical element of the at least two optical elements and the rear hinge can be attached to a second side of a rear optical element of the at least two optical elements, where the first side of the front optical element and the second side of the rear optical element are located on opposite outer edges of the lens configuration.

[0026] According to the above, the front rigid transmission element can be attached to the second side of the front optical element, and the rear rigid transmission element can be attached to the first side of the rear optical element, the second side of the front optical element and the first side of the rear optical element being located on opposite outer edges of the lens arrangement. Advantageously, this allows the front optical element to shift in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis, while the rear optical element shifts in the opposite direction. This shift can be adjusted based on a compressive force generated by the driving means.

[0027] In this context, rigid means not elastic. A rigid transmission part is at least less elastic than a hinge.

[0028] Preferably, the at least one optical element includes an anterior optical element and a posterior optical element, and the posterior optical surface of the anterior optical element and the anterior optical surface of the posterior optical element are at least partially cubic in shape. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0029] The top cutaway view of FIG. 1 (note that the lens configuration is generally symmetrical, so reference numbers can be transferred to opposite parts of the figure) shows an accommodating intraocular lens configuration comprising a variable-power optic with a fixed-power optic surface 1 and having an optical axis 2. The lens includes an anterior element 3 (facing the cornea of ​​the eye) and a posterior element 4 (facing the retina of the eye). Arrow 5 indicates the direction of light entering from the cornea, and arrow 6 indicates the direction of light exiting toward the retina. The mechanical configuration includes elastic haptics 7, which position the configuration within the eye and transmit lateral shifts of the drive means to the optic via rigid transmission elements 8, due to shifts 10 caused by natural drive means 9 within the eye. The elastic haptics include a first set of elastic hinges 11 that provide lateral shift 12 of the optic. The haptics also include a second set of hinges 13 that provide axial shift 14 of the optic. Each of the elements comprises at least one rotationally symmetric spherical optical surface 15, 16. These spherical optical surfaces may be both convex spherical surfaces (first embodiment, FIG. 3) or may comprise a convex spherical lens and a concave spherical lens (second embodiment, FIG. 4). Each of the elements also comprises at least one rotationally asymmetric, free-form, generally cubic-shaped optical surface 17, 18, which in this example forms the lining of an inner intralens space 19 and, at least in part, an outer intralens space 20.

[0030] Figure 2 is a side cutaway view of the lens configuration of Figure 1. Note the spherical surfaces 21, 22, the cubic surfaces 23, 24, the first set of hinges 25 that provide lateral shifting of the elements, and the second set of hinges 26 that provide axial shifting of the elements.

[0031] 3 is a side cutaway view of a first embodiment of a lens configuration having two convex spherical optical surfaces, with the lens configuration in a compressed state. A first set of hinges 27 provides lateral shift of the optical elements in opposite directions 28, 29, and a second set of hinges 30, 31 provides axial shift 32 of at least one optical element. The axial shift can narrow intra-lens space 33 and narrow outer intra-lens space 34.

[0032] Figure 4 is a side cutaway view of a second embodiment of the lens configuration in a compressed state, in which a first set of hinges 35, 36 provide lateral shifting of the elements (similar to the embodiment of Figure 3). However, in this second embodiment, a second set of hinges increases the intra-lens space. The anterior optic includes an optically overpowered spherical lens 37, i.e., a lens with additional positive refractive power above that required for a particular eye. The overpowered lens shifts anteriorly 38 along the optical axis to accommodate the eye when the lens configuration is laterally compressed by the driving means, and shifts posteriorly 39 to release accommodation when the driving means is released. The posterior optic includes a concave spherical lens 39 that shifts 40 along the optical axis, also accommodating the eye through this posterior shift. Arrows indicate the shift of the driving means 41, the lateral shift of the anterior element 42, the axial shift of the anterior optic 43, the lateral shift of the posterior element 44, and the axial shift of the posterior optic 45. It should be noted that in this embodiment, during lateral compression, the inner intralens space 46 and the outer intraocular space 47 expand, the extent of this expansion being determined by the degree of lateral compression of the lens configuration.

[0033] It is clear that the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments shown and described herein, but is susceptible to countless variations within the framework of the appended claims, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, where it is envisaged that the different inventive concepts and / or technical measures of the above variant embodiments can be combined in whole or in part without departing from the inventive concept as set forth in the appended claims.

[0034] The verb "to comprise" and its conjugations as used in this patent specification is understood to include not only "to comprise" but also the expressions "to include," "to approximately include," "to be formed by" and their conjugations.

Claims

1. 1. An accommodating intraocular lens configuration including an optical axis, the lens configuration comprising: - comprising at least two optical elements coupled to each other by at least one elastic haptic; At least one optical element, and preferably each optical element, At least one optical surface that at least partially comprises a cubic or freeform shape, At least one optical surface that includes an at least partially spherical shape; Including, the at least one haptic is configured to cooperate with at least one actuation means in the eye, the actuation means including at least one natural actuation means and / or artificial actuation means; the at least one haptic includes at least one hinge, the hinge being configured to translate a shift of the actuation means in the eye into a lateral shift and / or an axial shift of the at least two optical elements upon a shift of the actuation means; A lens configuration wherein a lateral shift is a shift in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis and an axial shift of the optical element is a shift in a direction along the optical axis.

2. The lens configuration of claim 1 , wherein at least one haptic is configured to translate a shift of the actuation means into a lateral shift of the optical element in opposite directions.

3. The lens arrangement of claim 1 , wherein at least one haptic is configured to translate a shift of the actuation means into an axial shift of the optical element in opposite directions.

4. The lens arrangement of claim 1 , wherein at least one haptic is configured to translate a shift of the actuation means into an axial shift of the optical element in the same direction.

5. 5. A lens configuration according to claim 1, wherein at least one haptic is configured to translate a shift of the actuation means into a combination of a lateral shift of the element and an axial shift of the element.

6. 6. A lens arrangement according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the driving means comprises natural driving means selected from the group of the ciliary muscle and / or the lens capsule in the eye, or any combination of said natural driving means.

7. 7. A lens arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the actuation means comprises artificial actuation means including at least one electromechanical MEMS component.

8. The lens configuration of claim 1 , wherein at least one haptic includes two hinges configured to independently provide the lateral and axial shifts of the optical element.

9. 9. The lens configuration of claim 1, wherein at least one haptic includes a single hinge, the single hinge configured to provide both the lateral shift and the axial shift of the optical element.

10. 10. A lens arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one haptic can be configured such that an axial shift of at least one actuation means is also translated into a lateral shift of the element.

11. 11. A lens arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one, and preferably each, optical element comprises at least one additional freeform surface configured to correct or enhance some variable aberration, such as variable aspherical and / or variable toric aberration.

12. 12. A lens arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the lens arrangement is configured to at least partially restore accommodation of a human eye.

13. 13. A lens arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the lens arrangement is configured to at least partially restore a combination of accommodation and refraction in a human eye.

14. 14. A lens arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least one hinge is elastic.

15. the at least one hinge includes a front hinge and a rear hinge; the front hinge is attached to a first side of a front optical element of the at least two optical elements, and the rear hinge is attached to a second side of a rear optical element of the at least two optical elements; 15. The lens configuration of claim 1, wherein the first side of the anterior optical element and the second side of the posterior optical element are located on opposite outer edges of the lens configuration.

16. a front rigid transmission piece attached to a second side of the front optical element; a rear rigid transmission component attached to a first side of the rear optical element; 16. The lens configuration of claim 15, wherein the second side of the anterior optic and the first side of the posterior optic are located on opposite outer edges of the lens configuration.

17. the at least one optical element includes an anterior optical element and a posterior optical element; 17. The lens arrangement of claim 1, wherein the rear optical surface of the anterior optical element and the front optical surface of the posterior optical element are at least partially cubic in shape.

Images