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DR. JAMES P. GILLS: The next type of lens that I really want to talk to you about is the Crystalens. It’s one of the most exciting things I’ve seen in the last two decades. The Crystalens is something that I would have today for my eyes if I could and needed surgery. It’s used even for people with clear lenses who want to get rid of glasses. We use this lens to enable people to have a better depth of focus. One of the biggest problems with people who have glasses after any type of cataract surgery in presbyopia they have a hard time focusing between their computer and their reading. When you focus on near vision with the crystal lens it can read the computer and the reading and all of this can be done without shifting back and forth. Then the lens can be modified for the distance intermediate and thus the patient has very little need of glasses. They may desire to utilize them for the first few years of driving and leave them in the car or on the dashboard. But the Crystalens has provided a better quality of vision for most patients than before they had the cataract surgery. So this is not only an improvement over their cataracts, it’s an improvement over where they were before cataract surgery. The people that don’t choose this lens come in two weeks or a month later and say, “Can I have my lens changed for a Crystalens?” And you say, “I’m sorry but we can’t do that and really be fair about it because it won’t get the same results as it should.”

The Crystalens has proved to be an excellent lens to enable people to be less dependant on glasses. Now there is a bigger biological variability in the refraction and secondary modifications and tweaking of their corrections are necessary probably in 10% of the cases. But this is well worth it because this one purchase, the Crystalens, is something that will be with you forever. You may go on vacation or buy a car. It costs the same thing as a Crystalens. The vacation is soon gone, the car you trade in shortly after. The Crystalens is with you for the rest of your life and it may be one of the most important decisions our patients make.