Multifocal lenses

This short video is supposed to provide you with introductory information on this innovative surgical method which makes a life without glasses or contact lenses possible.



Multifocal lenses of the latest generation for the first time gives people over the ages of 45-50 suffering from defective vision to permanently do without glasses or contact lenses. This age-set did not qualify for - resp. did not qualify anymore - for common treatment as LASIK due to the anyway soon setting in presbyopia. Beyond that laser surgical procedures are only applicable within certain dioptre values or if the anatomy of the eye is suitable for treatment. In any case patients of this age-set do need glasses for close range even after surgery.

The situation is different with the latest generation of multifocal lenses: The optics of the multifocal lenses is this way as to even young people suffering from severe defective vision and patients beyond the ages of 40 are enabled to see clearly both at a distance and within close range. In most cases they do not need any glasses after surgery any more. In contrast to commonly used artificial lenses in this case a variety of optical principles are combined and therefore a very good quality of contrast-sharpness and depth of sharpness are obtained. The technique of apodisation creates a soft blending between proximity and distance, minimises scattering effects and optimises light yield.

Even very distinctive astigmatisms can be exactly corrected by the means of this so called toric multifocal lenses.

Who qualifies for therapy?

• Patients who were diagnosed with cataract and who are in need of an artificial lens
• Patients who do not qualify for LASIK surgery due to their severe defective vision
• Patients from the ages of 40-45 as in their cases presbyopia has already set in or is just about to.

These days when performing cataract surgery or refractive lens replacement (RLA) so called monofocal lenses (lenses with constant focus) are used by default. By this one understands synthetic lenses which provide a clear image in a certain range only - usually at a distance.

Everyone is familiar with this - from the age of 45 one's arms appear to be too short when reading. The cause of presbyopia is the decreasing elasticity of the body's own lens that declines with advancing age. By the means of a possible laser surgery (e.g. LASIK) this is not to be treated as after laser surgery images at a distance appear clearly indeed, yet reading glasses are necessary for close range.

In order to be able to fix this problem, as early as in the late 1980s multifocal lenses had been developed dividing light into a long-distance point (for distance) and a close range segment (for proximity). Whereas these special artificial lens models (Restore, AcriLisa) - by a special optical design - allow for a wide independence from glasses for both close and far range; thus varifocal glasses within the eye. Those lenses make it possible both to read without glasses and seeing at a distance. This method also was topic of Johannes B. Kerner's TV show. Actor Rainer Hunold very favourably spoke about experiences of his own regarding such a procedure. For more than 50 years the 57-year-old suffered from severe near-sightedness. Now he says himself: "My eyes have been opened."

In cases of severe defective vision (long-sightedness and near-sightedness) in conjunction with already existing presbyopia the replacement of the body's own lens with a multifocal lens means a decisive gain in quality of living: a life without glasses. As mentioned above such a lens not only provides clear vision at a distance but also good vision in close range. Based a thorough and precise examination of your eyes we will advise you on the most appropriate method.