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Multifocal lenses are used in cataract operations to replace the lens when it loses transparency or to correct presbyopia or tired eyesight. For this, there are different lens designs on the market and choosing one or the other depends on the tolerance and preferences of each patient. SimVis Gekko, a lightweight, autonomous and portable binocular visual simulator, eliminates these difficulties because the vision it provides can be equivalent to what they would have with an intraocular lens, or what is the same: the lenses are represented in the simulator.

In this new study, the IO-CSIC scientists, in collaboration with the company 2EyesVision and the ophthalmology service of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos, have evaluated in 24 patients who were going to undergo cataract surgery the correspondence between the simulations carried out carried out pre- and postoperatively. To do this, they analyzed visual perception with different simulated corrections through SimVis Gekko. After 15 of them underwent surgery with monofocal intraocular lens implantation, the same corrections were evaluated again, this time simulated without the effect of lens opacification.

“We have found that SimVis Gekko is very useful in providing a real visual experience to patients before surgery, so that they can show their preferences and guide healthcare professionals in the subsequent selection of the correction that results in optimal vision for the patient”, highlights Amal Zaytouny, CSIC researcher at the IO and one of the authors of the article.

In order to grade the level of lens opacification, the scientists measured the level of cataract objectively through the Ocular Scattering Index (OSI) parameter. Likewise, both pre- and postoperatively, they obtained the value of visual acuity and the patients scored their visual perception on a scale of 0 to 10, at distant (4 meters), intermediate (64 centimeters) and close (40 centimeters) distances. with four different types of intraocular corrections, all of them simulated with SimVis Gekko. Once intervened, the results were compared and the correspondence between the values ​​found was studied.

Simulation of any type of intraocular lens

This work shows that the CSIC visual simulator can be a useful tool even when used in people with cataracts, since it allows simulating any type of intraocular lens and can provide an experience very close to the simulations tested in patients with crystalline lenses. transparent (no cataract).

The CSIC researcher emphasizes: “With this device, even those patients with lens opacification will be able to have a reference about which lens to implant, thus anticipating the result of the surgery before the intervention, eliminating uncertainty and increasing subsequent patient satisfaction.”

SimVis Gekko is commercially available and can be found in healthcare facilities in Europe and the United States. It is intended for ophthalmologists and optometrists as a tool to guide cataract surgery and realistically manage patient expectations.

The technology developed by this group of CSIC scientists is protected by three international patents owned by the CSIC, licensed to the company 2EyesVision S.L., a spin-off of the CSIC that emerged within the Visual Optics and Biophotonics Laboratory (VioBio Lab) of the CSIC.

Alda Ólafsson / CSIC Communication