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According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, about 36 million people wear contact lenses to correct common refractive errors like myopia (near-sightedness), hypermetropia (far-sightedness) and astigmatism. And for most, contact lenses are tedious to use. This is particularly true here in the Middle East where the environment is dusty and the majority of the people cannot tolerate wearing contact lenses.
Steering the new generation of high-definition vision technology, ICL or Implantable Collamer Lens offers a more permanent solution to correct vision problems and has certain advantages over the traditional LASIK and Surface Ablation surgery (PRK / LASEK).
Abu Dhabi’s tertiary healthcare institution, Burjeel Hospital, is using this vision-improving technology in the region.
“ICL is a scientifically improved lens made of collagen copolymer material. The word ‘collamer’ is derived by combining words ‘collagen’ and ‘polymer’. The collagen base of collamer makes it compatible with the human body. It is also UV-protected,” said Dr. Edmondo Borasio, Specialist Ophthalmic Surgeon and Head of the Corneal and Refractive Surgery Unit at Burjeel Hospital, Abu Dhabi. “The ICL lens works in the same way as contact lenses but is implanted inside the eye atop the natural crystalline lens, therefore not affecting the physiological ability of the eyes to focus on nearer objects”.
Comparing the ICL procedure to LASIK eye surgery, Dr. Borasio added, “In order to correct near-sightedness with LASIK or Surface Ablation, it is necessary to remove some tissue from the front of the cornea to make it flatter and a bit weaker than normal. This can affect the eyes’ optics and the quality of the vision in certain conditions (such as very dim light) – which may not be satisfactory conditions for some patients. While in the ICL procedure, the cornea is left completely untouched, leaving its natural curvature unchanged. This provides excellent levels of visions under a wide range of conditions”.
Also, since no corneal tissue is removed during ICL surgery, the corneal strength remains normal as opposed to LASIK where a certain degree of weakness occurs, which may develop to complications such as post LASIK ectasia or keratoconus (a progressive weakening) for some patients, requiring further surgery.
According to Dr. Borasio, “With ICL, there is a dramatic vision improvement immediately on day one, without discomforts usually associated with LASIK or Surface Ablation. Another great advantage of ICL over laser refractive surgery in general is that ICL can be performed safely even to those who suffer from dry eyes and are not suitable candidates for laser surgery.
“ICL surgery is suitable for those with poor vision (high myopia, hypermetropia, or astigmatism) and is older than 20 years of age. But after the age of 40, other procedures are better suited for sight correction.”
“Once the lenses have been implanted they can stay in the eyes for a very long time. But when cataracts develop or when the natural ageing lenses start becoming bulkier, the ICLs need to be removed.”
“The whole procedure takes about 15 to 20 minutes and results are immediate. Patient’s vision is enhanced only hours after surgery,” he pointed out.
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