Implant Procedures

Phakic IOL's

Phakic IOL's are ultra thin lenses, designed to be inserted permanently inside the eye. As the procedure does not involve removing tissue from your cornea, it is very suitable for people with thin corneas or high refractive errors.

Implantable Contact Lens (ICL)

The difference to a contact lens is that the ICL is placed inside your eye, rather than on the surface of your eye. Because of its tiny size and softness, it can be rolled up enabling it to be injected into your eye through a tiny incision underneath your eyelid. Once injected, the ICL unfolds into position and there it stays, correcting your eyesight without any further treatment being necessary.

Made of a unique material called Collamer®, the ICL is accepted by your body as not being a 'foreign tissue'. This means that your body happily accepts it without reacting to it and trying to attack or reject it.

Capable of correcting nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, the ICL produces highly accurate visual results with patients reporting a very high level of satisfaction.

Since they involve entering the eye, the risk of complications is slightly higher than with refractive laser surgeries. Your consultation will assess your individual condition and propose the best treatment for your eyes.

Clear Lensectomy

When refractive errors are too large to correct with laser surgeries like LASIK, a Clear Lensectomy may be the answer. This procedure involves the removal of the natural lens and replacement with an plastic lens (an intraocular lens or IOL). It is the same operation as cataract surgery but in cataract the natural lens has gone opaque.

The operation is generally performed under topical anaesthetic. First the natural lens is removed. Then an IOL (intracocular lens), calculated to correct the refractive error, is inserted. No sutures are required and post operative pain is minimal. Recovery of vision is very rapid with few limitations of activities.

With Clear Lensectomy, there are virtually no restrictions from the point of refraction, although at times 2 IOLs have to be piggy-backed to correct all of the refractive error. Since they are implanted, the risk of complications is slightly higher than with excimer laser surgeries. The procedure is only recommended and undertaken after your ophthalmic assessment.

Cataract Surgery

The onset of cataracts in older age can gradually impair vision. A change in your glasses, stronger bifocals, or the use of magnifying lenses may help in the short term. Eventually, surgery to remove the lens and replace it with an artificial lens implant will be the only course of treatment.

One of the most common eye procedures in Australia today, an assessment can tell you when it is time to consider surgery. If you are experiencing any or all of the following, it may be worth having your cataracts reviewed.

• I need to drive, but there is too much glare from the sun or headlights.
• I do not see well enough to do my best at work.
• I do not see well enough to do the things I need to do at home.
• I do not see well enough to do things I like to do (for example: read, watch TV, sew, hike, play cards, go out with friends)
• I am afraid I will bump into something or fall.
• Because of my cataract, I am not as independent as I would like to be.
• My glasses do not help me see well enough.

Cataract surgery is a painless experience and usually routine day surgery. The cloudy lens is removed then replaced with an IOL (intraocular lens) to improve vision immediately upon recovery.

Find out more about cataract symptoms and surgery.