Artificial lens (artifact)

Artifakia - the presence of an artificial lens in the eye. The eye with the artificial lens is called artifical.

Intraocular correction of aphakia has a number of advantages over spectacle. It is more physiological, eliminates the dependence of patients on glasses, does not give a narrowing of the field of vision, peripheral cattle, distortion of objects. The image of the normal value is formed on the retina.

Currently, there are many designs of artificial lenses. According to the principle of fastening in the eye, there are three main types of artificial lenses:

• the anterior chamber lenses are placed in the anterior chamber of the eye and find support in the corner of the anterior chamber. They are in contact with very sensitive tissues of the eye - the iris and the cornea. These lenses provoke the formation of synechia in the corner of the anterior chamber of the eye, which explains their rare use at the present time;
• Pupillary lenses (papillary) are also called iris-clip-lenses (ICL). They are inserted into the pupil by the clip principle, these lenses are retained by the front and back support (haptical) elements. The first lens of this type - the Fedorov-Zakharov lens - has 3 rear arms and 3 front antennas. In the 60-70s of the XX century, when mainly intracapsular extraction of cataracts was used, the Fedorov-Zakharov lens was widely used all over the world. Its main disadvantage is the possibility of dislocation of support elements or the entire lens;
• posterior chamber lenses

(ZKL) is placed in the lens bag after removal of the nucleus and cortical masses during extracapsular extraction of cataract. They take the place of a natural lens in the overall complex optical system of the eye, so they provide the highest quality of vision. ZCL better than others strengthen the separation barrier between the anterior and posterior parts of the eye, prevent the development of many severe postoperative complications such as secondary glaucoma, retinal detachment, etc. They contact only the capsule of the lens, which has no nerves and vessels and is not capable of inflammatory reaction. This type of lens is currently preferred. Among ZKL it is possible to allocate zadnekapsuljarnye which fasten directly on a capsule. They are used in those cases when, after a previous injury, the transparent lens bag is not preserved, and only a dense, cloudy posterior capsule remains, fused with the remains of the anterior.

The artificial lens is made of hard (polymethyl methacrylate, leucosapphire, etc.) and soft (silicone, hydrogel, polyurethane methacrylate, copolymer of collagen, etc.) material. They can be multifocal or made in the form of a prism.

In one eye, you can enter at once two artificial lenses. If, for any reason, the optics of the artifical eye is incompatible with the optics of the other eye, then it is supplemented by another artificial lens of the necessary dioptry.

The technology of manufacturing artificial lenses is constantly being improved, the design of lenses changes, as required by modern cataract surgery.

Correction of aphakia can be performed by other surgical methods based on increasing the refractive power of the cornea.

[1]