FOR RELEASE 9/12/2008, Friday
BERLIN, GERMANY — Bausch & Lomb is celebrating 10 years of Akreos® IOL design and innovation at the XXV Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS), which begins this weekend in Berlin. The first Akreos IOL was implanted by Professor Jean-Louis Arné on 29 June, 1998, in Toulouse, France. Since then, the Akreos IOL design has progressively evolved, resulting in the latest fifth generation model, the Akreos AO Micro Incision lens, which can be implanted through a 1.8 mm incision.
Already implanted in more than 2 million eyes, the biocompatible, acrylic, hydrophilic Akreos range of lenses have a proven track record in clinical safety and performance.
The Akreos material was developed from 1996 to 1997. It is a copolymer of PHEMA (polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate) and PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate). These polymers have a long record of use in ophthalmology, demonstrating excellent biocompatibility. The later generation models, the Akreos AO and Akreos MI60 lenses, both feature the Advanced Optic lens, which has an aspheric, aberration-free design, with aspheric anterior and posterior surfaces that create no spherical aberrations.
These AO lenses are neutral to the cornea, making them suitable for all patients regardless of corneal shape, leaving the eye with its natural degree of corneal positive spherical aberration, plus improved contrast sensitivity, but still providing patients with a good depth of field. The lens performance is unaffected by optical misalignment or pupil decentration, thanks to its true aspheric design with a uniform refractive power from centre to the edge of the optic, giving more predictable, repeatable refractive outcomes.
Earlier this year, the Akreos AO Micro Incision Lens (model Akreos MI60) received the gold award at the Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA), a leading medical awards programme for the medical technology industry. The lens was recognised for its innovative design, using a thinner optic and innovative haptic shape which allow it to be implanted through a 1.8mm incision, whilst maintaining excellent optical quality and lens stability. “It is the deformable, tear-resistant and easily foldable properties of the Akreos material which make it an ideal for a microincision lens,” said Dr. Joel Pynson, director - design engineering, Bausch & Lomb, who led the Akreos MI60 project team.
Italian MICS Expert, Dr. Roberto Bellucci, commented, “With the Akreos series, B&L is providing the highest quality hydrophilic IOLs currently available. The Akreos MI60 microincision IOL is a revolutionary lens that opens the era of aberration-free cataract surgery.” The Akreos MI60 lens has been developed for microincision cataract surgery (MICS™), forming part of Bausch & Lomb’s MICS Platform, where Bausch & Lomb is leading the way in reducing the incision size required for cataract surgery to benefit patient outcomes.
Please visit www.micsplatform.com for more information.
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Bausch & Lomb is the eye health company dedicated to perfecting vision and enhancing life for consumers around the world. Its core businesses include soft and rigid gas permeable contact lenses and lens care products, and ophthalmic surgical and pharmaceutical products. The Bausch & Lomb name is one of the best known and most respected healthcare brands in the world. Founded in 1853, the company is headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., and employs approximately 13,000 people worldwide. Its products are available in more than 100 countries. More information about the Company can be found at www.bausch.com.
The Akreos range of IOLs are available in Europe and Asia.
United States
