Bi-phasic Intraocular Lens for Natural Accommodation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current intraocular lenses (IOLs) compromise accommodation by applying radial forces that counteract natural ciliary muscle function, leading to increased equatorial lens diameter and decreased accommodative amplitude, resulting in presbyopia, and often require haptics that cause glare and tissue damage.
Innovation Solution
An IOL with an ellipsoidal profile and a bi-phasic filling medium that cures in situ, providing restorative forces to maintain shape without radial compression, allowing natural accommodation and minimizing tissue interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If haptics are used to center the IOL, then the IOL remains centered in the capsule, but radial forces are applied that counteract natural accommodation and increase equatorial lens diameter
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the haptic structure from the IOL design entirely. Instead of using haptics to provide radial support and centering, the invention relies on the natural capsular bag structure and the weight/gravity of the IOL itself to achieve centering and maintain the natural accommodative function without radial counteracting forces.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of applying radial outward forces through haptics to maintain IOL position, the invention inverts the approach by allowing the IOL to naturally settle in the capsular bag through gravity and weight, letting the capsular bag's elastic properties provide the necessary support and centering without active radial compression.
2Reliability
If haptics are used to maintain IOL position, then the IOL is stabilized in the capsule, but glare is generated and tissue damage occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the haptic components that generate glare and cause tissue damage. The IOL is designed as a simple optical element without the mechanical structures (haptics) that interact with the capsular bag in harmful ways, thereby removing the source of glare and tissue damage while maintaining stability through alternative means.
Solution Approach 2:
The IOL is designed to be self-centering and self-stabilizing through its own weight and the elastic properties of the capsular bag, without requiring external mechanical support structures. This self-service approach eliminates the harmful interactions between haptics and surrounding tissues.
3Length of moving object
If the IOL is made flat to reduce size, then the lens thickness is decreased, but physiological accommodation becomes impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic IOL design where the lens can change its shape and position within the capsular bag in response to ciliary muscle contraction. The IOL transitions between a flat state for distance vision and a more spherical state for near vision accommodation, allowing the thin lens to perform physiological accommodation dynamically rather than being fixed in shape.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes the natural spherical curvature that develops during accommodation. When the ciliary muscle contracts, the IOL becomes more spherical to provide near vision focus, then returns to a flatter configuration for distance vision. This dynamic curvature change enables accommodation in a thin lens design.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The IOL maintains natural accommodative function, reduces glare, and minimizes tissue damage by using a combination of solid and liquid phases to enhance optical performance and stabilize the lens shape, achieving functional performance similar to a healthy eye.
Implementation Method 1
The bag may then be deflated in preparation of receiving a liquid filling optical medium which cures to a substantially solid state after entering the bag. Preferably, the filling material cures to form cross links between the anterior and posterior surfaces of the bag.
Implementation Method 2
The inner medium preferably comprised of a fluid phase and a solid phase, the solid phase applying a variety of restorative forces on at least a portion of the outer wall of the IOL
Implementation Method 3
The IOL maintains natural accommodative function, reduces glare, and minimizes tissue damage by using a combination of solid and liquid phases to enhance optical performance and stabilize the lens shape
Data Source
AI summary
A device and method for forming an adaptive optic in the capsule of a human eye is disclosed, comprising a capsular interface enclosing an optically acceptable medium. The device establishes a physiologic range of optical power in response to a range of ciliary contractile states. The preferred bi-phasic medium of the device is comprised of a solid three dimensional polymeric network suspended in a liquid aqueous phase and bonded to a capsular interface. The polymeric network provides shape to the capsular interface, optical power, and a physiologic response to the suspensory ligament. The three dimensional network of the bi-phasic medium mimics the stacked fiber configuration and elasticity of a natural lens. An alternative embodiment utilizing a single phase medium is also disclosed with associated structural features provided in the capsular interface.