Visian ICL
aka "Phakic Lens Implant"
by David A. Wallace MD
Visian ICL care for qualified* patients can provide:
- Immediate vision improvement - for both near and far
- Simplification of life - Unlike traditional contact lenses, there is no daily cleaning and no concerns with swimming, dust, or other elements that could cause a scratch or cause a contact lens to fall out. The Visian ICL is gently placed inside the eye, behind the iris.
- Updatable lens - If necessary - The lens can be removed and updated, should vision change or need arise.
- Visian ICL is an excellent option for many who have been told they are "not good candidates for LASIK." ICL can be great for patients who's corneas are thin, or prescriptions too strong, to be corrected by laser sculpting methods such as LASIK or PRK. Visian ICL may be a preferred option for some patients who have "dry eye" (also called ocular surface disease), or who have concerns about LASIK.
* Typical candidates are between the ages of 21 and 45, and have high-prescription nearsightedness, abnormal corneal topography, thin corneas or dry eye significant enough to disqualify from candidacy for LASIK. Please schedule a free consultation to determine if you are a candidate for this or another type of laser vision correction.
Please click on the graphic button below for more info on the Visian ICL:
How it works: The term phakic (from the Greek phakos , for lens) refers to an eye wherein the natural (crystalline) lens is retained, not removed as in cataract surgery (if removed, the eye is referred to as aphakic ). Phakic lens implantation describes a procedure to insert an additional lens into the eye, either in front of the iris or just behind it. The Visian ICL is a type of phakic lens implant, and has been nicknamed Internal Contact Lens, but the FDA prefers use of different terminology less easily confused with standard contact lenses. Since the Visian lens is made of a collagen polymer material called "collamer", it is now referred to as the Internal Collamer Lens. It is no coincidence that these two names share the same acronym, "ICL". The manufacturer of the ICL is a US company, Staar Surgical (Monrovia, CA) and "Visian" is the trade name fo rtheir ICL product.
Many experienced surgeons feel that the quality of vision obtained with Visian ICL is slightly better than that obtained by LASIK for a similar amount of correction, and this may represent a real near-term advantage.
A recent Wall Street Journal article, FDA Approves New Corrective Eye Surgery , discussed phakic IOLs in reasonable detail.
Dr. David Wallace typically offers Visian ICL for those who have nearsightedness in the uper ranges above about -8.00. There is an overlap range (between about -7.50 and -11.00) where both LASIK and ICL can afford excellent visual results. Above this range (-11.00 to as high as -20.00 or so) ICL is definitely the preferred option. ICL may also be an excellent option below the -8.00 range for those individuals who are not optimal candidates for LASIK due to dry eye, thin corneas, abnormal corneal topography, or other situations. Lens replacement surgery, in which the natural lens of the eye is replaced, can also be used as an alternative to LASIK, but is most commonly used to treat patients 55 years of age and above. Please visit the cataracts page to learn more about how Dr Wallace has restored the vision of many Los Angeles cataract surgery patients.
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