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Tecnis
How Cataracts Affect Your Vision
As cataracts develop, all objects – whether near or far – become blurred and vision usually worsens. One of the results of developing a cataract is losing the ability to see in low light situations or at nighttime. Other signs of a cataract include hazy or blurred vision, colors that seem faded or not as bright as they once were, glare and/or halos from lights and frequent changes in eyeglass prescriptions.
Effects of Cataracts
Cataracts have been significantly associated with:
– Difficulty driving in the rain*
– Difficulty driving alone*
– Difficulty making left turns across traffic*
– Difficulty driving on interstates, in high traffic, in rush hour, and at night*
Drivers with cataracts are more than four times more likely to report these difficulties than drivers without cataracts.*
Cataracts & Driving Safety
• Cataracts limit freedom of travel and mobility.
• People with cataracts are twice as likely to reduce the number of days driving per week, and the number of their destinations.*
• People with cataracts are two times less likely to drive beyond their neighboring towns.*
Cataracts & Falls• Falls are the leading cause of injury-related visits to emergency departments in the US.1
• In older people, contrast sensitivity appears to be important for maintaining balance and detecting and avoiding hazards in the environment.2
Traditional Lens ImplantsTraditional lens implants improve vision but still leave the cornea and lens somewhat unbalanced. Vision with a traditional IOL is better...but not as good as it could be for most people.
The TECNIS Intraocular Lens™
The TECNIS™ Intraocular Lens (IOL) is the FIRST and ONLY lens implant approved by the United States Food & Drug Administration to improve functional vision and reduce spherical aberration, which is likely to provide a meaningful safety benefit for most older drivers.
The TECNIS™ IOL was developed using an advanced optical measuring system called wavefront technology.
Based on these advanced wavefront measurements, optical engineers created the patented TECNIS™ IOL with a modified prolate (curved) lens surface.
The modified prolate lens surface allows the TECNIS™ lens implant to restore the cornea/lens balance to a level more like the natural lens found in a healthy young adult’s eye instead of restoring the cornea/lens balance to a level more like that of a natural lens typically found in a healthy older person’s eye.
The result is a lens implant that helps provide safer, sharper vision in varying light conditions.
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TECNIS™ Lens Implant |
Traditional Lens Implant |
*National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: U.S. Department of Transportation, April 1999 “Safe Mobility for Older People.”
1. Fuller GF. Falls in the elderly. American Academy of Family Physicians. Vol. 6; No.7: April 1, 2000. 2. Lord SR, Dayhew J. Visual risk factors for falls in older people. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2001;49(5):508-15.
