Can cataract surgery cause a color percetion change?
Posted , 4 users are following.
I am struggling between choosing a clear or a yellow tinted lens for my cataract surgery. I've read where our natural lens is closer to the yellow tinted IOL's lens and that they offer a warmer tint. I've read the clear IOL's offer a cooler tint or blueish tint. I'm interested in the Tecnics Symphony Opti-Blue but I think it only comes in a clear lens and I am concerned with having the colors take on a cooler tint.
0 likes, 8 replies
RonAKA angela85989
Edited
The colour difference is very minor. I would suggest you would not see the difference unless you had one of each in your eyes. Even then it would be minor and some studies have shown only 1 in 5 can see the difference. Where you are likely to see a big difference is when one eye has cataract surgery and the other does not. When one eye is done with either type of lens you will likely notice the vision in the cataract eye to be yellowish. It depends to some degree on the type and severity of the cataract, but most notice a huge increase in brightness and a shift toward the blue when they get their first eye done.
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The majority of the Alcon lenses like the Clareon use blue light filtering to restore the filtering to that of a young adult or teenager. Some J&J lenses are perfectly clear like the Tecnis 1, while some of the newer ones with the Opti-Blue filtering, despite what the name suggests have a violet filter which is kind of between clear and a true blue filter. Blue light filtering and to a slightly less degree violet light filtering can reduce chromatic aberration and improve contrast sensitivity in dimmer light. Is it significant? They would like us to believe it...
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Which should one get? I would suggest if you have eye disease like AMD the blue light filter MAY be safer, but it has not been proven. And, if you do any digital darkroom work in photography the Alcon blue light filter will allow you to better match colour to what a younger person with natural lenses will see.
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I understand the Alcon Vivity is now available in a UV only version, but whether or not surgeons are using it is another matter. I would select blue light filtering and have done so with both of my eyes.
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Many people misunderstand the blue light filtering in IOLs. They think the blue light filtering is in addition to the blue light filtering one would normally have. They fail to realize that the blue light filtering that they naturally have is removed when the natural lens is removed. The eye now has none, unless it is added back in the IOL.
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If you want to read a paper on it, try googling this.
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Blue Light Filtering IOLs and Ocular Health White Paper Anna Katarzyna Talaga, PhD Xiaolin Gu, MD, PhD Alcon Medical Affairs
angela85989 RonAKA
Posted
Thank you so much for your reply! I found it very helpful. I'm leaning toward the Tecnis OptiBlue because I want an EDOF lens and have been told the Tecnis offers the best contrast sensitivity at the intermediate and distant range, compared to the Vivity where you can lose some contrast. I know everybody is different and many have been extremely happy with the Vivity, so it comes down to the person. My surgeon uses them a lot, he placed them in my husband's eyes, but he is very concerned that I won't be happy due to the potential loss of constrast. I like the Vivity because they offer a yellow lens and like the idea of a warmer tint. But I hear you saying that it's not that much of a difference. Thanks again...
Guest angela85989
Edited
I have a J & J lens and the natural lens (with cataract) still in my other eye and I'm hard pressed to notice much difference in colour. Blues and Greens look the same. I DO notice that a plain white sheet of paper looks whiter / more "blue" with my J & J eye but that's the only way I can really tell. The world in general doesn't look much (or any) different colour-wise between my two eyes. At least not with MY eyes and MY brain. Your results and perception may vary. Overall I suspect yellow or clear IOL isn't too much of a deciding factor for most people. Maybe a photographer or artist would want a yellow lens but again, I think the difference is subtle.
angela85989 Guest
Posted
Thank you so much for your reply! Good to know that you don't experience a significant difference in color perception. I want an EDOF lens and have been told the Tecnis OptiBlue offers the best contrast sensitivity. I was sold on the Vivity but my surgeon is afraid that I won't be happy with them because the loss of contrast, and he recommended the J&J Tecnis. He did mention that it causes starburst at night but I don't do much night driving. I like the Vivity because they offer a yellow lens and like the idea of a warmer tint closer to our natural lens. But it sounds like from what I am hearing that it is not such a big deal .
Guest angela85989
Posted
When you say the Tenics Optiblue do you mean Synergy? If a diffractive multifocal is an option I would look at Alcon Panoptix not Synergy. Go on YouTube and watch Dr. Shannon Wong's videos comparing the two.
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That said understand the Vivity and Panoptix (which both have the yellow tint) use very different technologies. The Panoptix is a diffractive multifocal. It gives you a very wide range of focus (from one foot or less to infinity) by splitting light into multiple images (your brain learns which one to process). Vivity is a refractive lens. It gives you a somewhat wider range of focus (from 2 feet to infinity) by stretching the incoming light.
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The benefit of both lenses is the wider range of focus. The cost you pay for that is in image quality and visual side effects at night. Any and all diffractive multifocals WILL cause distinct sharp halos around all point light sources at night. Most people get used to them. Some (typically perfectionists) do not. Vivity has far fewer and less dramatic side effects at night because it is not splitting light. But point light sources at night will have a bit of "flare". It's not really a halo, more like the lights are a little fuzzy. But you also get that slight improvement in near vision vs. a monofocal.
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The absolute best image quality with the lowest (not zero but close to zero) risk of nighttime side effects is a monofocal like the Alcon Clareon Monofocal or the J&J Tecnis 1. But you will need glasses (wearing progressives all day or carrying readers around). I think all Alcon lenses have the yellow tint and almost all J&J lenses do not (Optiblue lenses have a slight yellow tint… less than Alcon).
RonAKA Guest
Edited
Except that I have to remind that monofocals in a mini-monovision configuration have just as wide of a range of vision as the PanOptix.
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This article shows a comparison for a few lenses on the optical effects.
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Visualization of Ray Propagation through Extended Depth-of-Focus Intraocular Lenses by Isabella D. BaurORCID,Gerd U. AuffarthORCID,Weijia YanORCID,Grzegorz Łabuz † andRamin Khoramnia
angela85989 Guest
Posted
I mean the Tecnis Symfony OptiBlue with Intelilight. It is an EDOF lens with violet light filtration. I called the manufacturer and confirmed that the Symfony lens has a slight yellow tint as you stated. I appreciate you taking the time to respond, this is a bit nerve racking and it's nice to have some guidance.
angela85989 RonAKA
Posted
Thanks for the article link, I just got done reading it. I love learning about all of this, it really helps me in making my decision. I appreciate you sharing the information and your knowledge!