If you are nearsighted (myopic) with or without astigmatism and would rather not have a Custom LASIK procedure, or have been told you are not a good LASIK candidate, the EVO Visian ICL™ could be a good option for you. ICL stands for Implantable Collamer Lens and Collamer is the proprietary, biocompatible material used to make the lens. Some people refer to the EVO ICL as an Implantable Contact Lens because the lens works as a maintenance-free contact lens that is added to your eye to correct distance vision
What is the EVO Visian ICL?
The EVO Visian ICL is also known as a phakic intraocular lens (P-IOL). A regular IOL lens used during cataract surgery would actually replace the natural lens of your eye, while the ICL is an additive technology. The EVO Visian ICL is placed in front of the natural lens directly behind the iris (colored part of your eye). It is “hidden” back there, practically invisible to the world and cannot be felt by the patient. The ideal candidate for the EVO Visian ICL would be between 18 to 45 with a stable refraction, although there are exceptions.
How the EVO Visian ICL Works
The EVO Visian ICL is FDA-approved to treat as much as 16.00 diopters of myopia and up to 4 diopters of cylinder, so it is an excellent option if you have moderate or severe myopia. It is an alternative to LASIK that removes tissue from the cornea, so patients with thin or abnormal corneas may be a candidate.
A myopic eye bends (refracts) too much incoming light, causing it to focus before it reaches the eye’s retina (the back of the eye). Correction of myopia is achieved by undoing some of that light bending; that is, by reducing the eye’s refractive power. Whether it is done with glasses, contacts, LASIK, or an EVO Visian ICL, the correction involves bending light, delaying its focus until it reaches the retina.
So each eye has two lenses – the crystalline lens and the cornea. Together, in a 20/20 eye, they bend incoming light to a focus on the retina. The EVO Visian ICL provides a third lens. It corrects corneal refraction after the fact – before the light reaches the crystalline lens. Now you have three lenses that work together to give you clear vision at all distances.
What if I am NOT a candidate for LASIK eye surgery?
Advantages of the EVO Visian ICL
- With over 1 Million ICLs implanted worldwide and with a 15-year track record of success, the EVO ICL is a proven safe and effective technology to correct myopia and astigmatism.
- You cannot feel it in your eye, nor can you see it. You just see a normal eye just like what you would have seen without the EVO ICL, except that things are in clear focus.
- The procedure is reversible. That means that the EVO Visian ICL can be easily removed if that becomes desirable for any reason. It can also be replaced with a lens of different strength, if necessary.
- The procedure is short and simple. There will be no residual scar in your field of vision, nor visible to others. Most patients experience a dramatic visual improvement within a day.
- The Collamer used to make the EVO Visian ICL filters out ultraviolet light, thus protecting the eyes from possible damage from that source.
