Abstract
Purpose :
Pseudophakic patients implanted with acrylic intraocular lenses (IOLs) may experience glare from straylight that is induced by the IOL material. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of acrylic material characteristics on stray light performance, with an emphasis on potential differences between hydrophobic and hydrophilic materials.
Methods :
Hydrophilic acrylic and hydrophobic acrylic IOL models were used for stray light evaluation. The IOLs were immersed in a saline solution. The amount of straylight was measured using white light using two instruments, one for small angles (up to 3 degrees), and one for large angels (from 2 to 22 degrees). The potential effect of glistenings in the material was modeled by exposing the IOLs to a temperature cycle. Stray light was measured before and after the temperature cycle. Results were compared to published stray light data of hydrophobic and hydrophilic acrylic IOL material.
Results :
IOLs of both acrylic materials had similar stray light behavior before and after applying the temperature cycle. The temperature cycle seemed to be representative for in-vivo material performance. Hydrophilic acrylic IOLs showed high stray light levels at large visual angle, which was approximately 5 to 10 times higher than that of hydrophobic IOLs for angles close to 20 degrees. The elevation of straylight for these angles confirms earlier findings in other tested hydrophilic IOL materials.
Conclusions :
The tested Acrylic IOLs were stable in terms of stray light after applying temperature cycle. The evaluated hydrophilic acrylic IOLs have higher stray light levels for large angles compared to hydrophobic acrylic IOLs.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.