Dr. Robert Ang, Refractive and Cataract Services Director and Chief of Research and Training at the Asian Eye Institute, gave two lectures at the Hawaiian Eye Conference held on January 16 to 20, 2023 in Kauai, Hawaii.
This conference is a meeting among world-class educators who offer practice-enhancing insights and dialogue to ophthalmologists based in the United States.
Dr. Ang’s presentations were mainly about intraocular lenses (IOLs) – the first presentation was entitled Optimizing Outcomes in Toric Intraocular Lenses (IOL), while the second one was Patient Selection and Education for Small Aperture Intraocular Lenses (SA IOL).
Cataract is the clouding of the natural lens of the eye. As it grows bigger, it can cause blurred vision, block your vision, and eventually, lead to blindness. To improve vision, an IOL is used to replace the natural lens of the eye that has a cataract.
In his first presentation, Dr. Ang provided tips from his experience in selecting and calculating IOLs, positioning of lens axis, and monitoring of patients after surgery. “Patients with significant corneal astigmatism are normally recommended with a toric IOL. Asian Eye patients can greatly benefit from the knowledge and experience of Asian Eye doctors when it comes to dealing with astigmatism and cataracts.”
There are different IOLs that both doctors and patients can choose from. However, there is the SA IOL. Dr. Ang explained, “The SA IOL is a one-of-its-kind small aperture IOL that is designed to filter out unfocused light and unwanted aberrations and distortions that degrades image quality, by allowing only organized central light rays to reach the retina. This results in higher quality images, with extended depth of focus without the blurry transition zones. This makes it a viable option for patients with presbyopia and can improve vision in eyes with corneal irregularities, scars, or iris damage.”
In the past eight (8) years, Dr. Ang has been doing clinical research studies with Acufocus, the company that created the small aperture IOL. And this collaboration has contributed to the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) approval of the IC-8 Aptherasmall aperture IOL in 2022.
According to Dr. Ang, the IC-8 is ideal for patients who have had LASIK and PRK. “It can screen out the aberrations caused by their previous laser eye surgery, which leads not only to clearer far vision but also an extended depth of focus to aid in computer use or vision used for mild reading.”
In January 2023, Bausch and Lomb acquired the Acufocus. This means that it will distribute the IC-8 in the US and the international market. Asian Eye Institute will offer the IC-8 small aperture lens in the Philippines once it is available commercially. In the meantime, Dr. Ang continues to do clinical research on patients with previous laser eye surgery who now have developed cataracts.
Asian Eye has been doing clinical research since 2002. A leading research site in Asia, it has been collaborating with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discover and provide patients with innovative eye care solutions. Learn more about the ongoing research studies at Asian Eye Institute. Call its Research Department via 0917-819-0687.
Learn more about the ongoing research studies at Asian Eye Institute. Call its Research Department via 0917-819-0687.
