Regional Eye Associates proudly offers the AcrySof ReSTOR +3.0 D, a foldable intraocular lens (IOL) that is inserted in place of the natural lens during cataract surgery. ReStor +3.0 D features innovative technology that allows patients to enjoy the highest level of freedom from glasses ever achieved in FDA clinical trials of IOLs. 

 In the healthy eye, the natural lens accommodates easily to focus on objects at near, intermediate, and far distances. However, as we age, the once-flexible lens becomes rigid, cloudy, and hard to focus as a result of cataract development. The creators of the AcrySof ReSTOR IOL + 3.0 D were inspired by the flexible motion of the natural lens and sought to create a product that would mimic the eye’s properties. They created the AcrySof ReStor +3.0 D to allow patients to enjoy a complete range of vision independent of the ciliary muscle body.

 The ReStor +3.0 D uses a unique combination of three technologies that complement each other to give patients sharper, clearer vision than what they could achieve with traditional monofocal lenses. Because of the specially designed optical properties of the multifocal lens, patients can enjoy high-quality vision with a dramatic freedom from glasses. In fact, Alcon has patented the application of apodization technology in an IOL, making AcrySof ReStor +3.0 D the first and only apodized diffractive IOL. This means that the lens features a patented design that allows the appropriate amount of light to varying focal points in both high and low levels of light. The result—increased independence from glasses and an astounding improvement over standard monofocal lenses. 

Traditional monofocal lenses are inserted during cataract surgery and are designed to offer patients only one point of focus. While patients who have monofocal lenses will be free from the cloudy vision that results from cataracts, they will still need to wear glasses in order to enjoy all depths of vision.

Multifocal lenses, on the other hand, are specially designed to give patients a wider range of vision. Most patients find that they are greatly independent of their glasses, and some do not have to wear any glasses at all. Individuals results can vary, and it is important to understand that we cannot guarantee any outcome.   

Your doctor and surgical coordinator will thoroughly explain to you the risks and benefits of cataract surgery, which is the most commonly performed outpatient ophthalmological surgery in the United States. However, patients who are receiving the surgery must understand that no lens is perfect, and that there are compromises that must be made with every lens design. The ReSTOR +3.0 multifocal lens offers a wide range of focus for visual clarity, but it may cause patients to see rings around light, especially at night.

If I do experience these rings, how long do they last? 

Most patients who experience the rings or haloes around lights will adjust to the rings in approximately three to six months. This is a result of a process called neuroadaptation, in which the eyes and the brain must adjust to the visual changes following a multifocal lens implantation.  However, it is important to remember that individual results can vary and that there is no assurance that you will adjust to them in this time frame or any other. 

To learn more about the AcrySof ReStor +3.0 D, contact our surgical coordinator Sandra Pultz at 304-598-3301 and push *846 for her extension.