Major advances in eye care technology mean people with age-related loss of vision no longer have to depend on reading glasses to see clearly.
 
Most people, at some point in their 40s, develop presbyopia; a stiffening of the natural crystalline lens within the eye. As the natural lens can no longer be easily moved by the contraction of the eye muscles to focus, the light rays don’t hit the retina at the back of the eye optimally, and we get a blurred image.
 
Quite often our distance vision remained unaffected; it’s only objects that are close to us that we have trouble with. Many people compensate initially by trying to hold objects away from them to try to get a clear focus, and inevitably end up being dependent on reading glasses.
 

Exclusive to Optilase Ireland

 
Now, exclusive to Optilase in Ireland, a procedure called Presbia is changing the picture, quite literally, for people with presbyopia. In a swift, safe and effective procedure, a tiny lens called a corneal inlay is implanted over the eye to compensate for the natural lens’ inability to focus on near objects.
 
Developed specifically to address the widespread problem of presbyopia, Presbia’s Flexivue Microlens™ is a microscopically thin polymer which is biocompatible with the body. It is permeable, so allows nutrient flow through the cornea, and is invisible once it’s in.
 

So Good You Only Need One

 
Presbia only requires a corneal implant in one eye, the non-dominant eye, to correct your vision. After a detailed assessment of your vision, you’ll be scheduled for the procedure which only takes about 10 minutes.
 
Your Optilase Ophthalmic Surgeon will use a femtosecond laser to cut a very small pocket in the surface of your cornea, and then slips the inlay gently into place. The corneal cut is tiny and heals itself within days.
 

After the Presbia Procedure

 
After the procedure you’ll be monitored for improvement and changes in your vision in a series of follow-up visits. You may experience some glare or ‘halo’ effects as your eyes become used to the inlay.
 
One of the many advantages of Presbia’s Flexivue Microlens™ is that the lens can be removed or exchanged at any point, or taken out altogether if a different corrective eye procedure may be better suited to your needs in years to come.
 
Your eyes will be able to focus correctly on near objects after Presbia as the corneal inlay compensates for the stiffing of your own natural lens. Most people can get rid of their reading glasses altogether, and the improvement frees you from depending on corrective eyewear to go about your daily tasks.
 
If you’d like to say goodbye to your glasses and have a clear view all day, call Optilase on +353 1 223 8821 to see if you’re a candidate for corneal inlays. You get a free consultation and it may change your life.

We never realise it’ll happen to us, but many of us who have hitherto had great vision experience blurring when it comes to trying to read. There are a few different reasons for this, but often it’s a condition called presbyopia, or aging of the eye.
 
The crystalline lens in the eye tends to stiffen and get dryer with age, so we have trouble focusing on objects that are near as the lens can’t be squeezed into place by the eye muscles to form a clear image anymore. For this reason, many of us end up being dependent on reading glasses or corrective eyewear.
 
Now you can free yourself from your dependence on reading glasses, as Optilase are exclusively offering a procedure called Presbia™ to help patients with presbyopia. This procedure is exclusive to Optilase in Ireland and is a quick, simple procedure that gives you back your near vision.
 

What is Presbia™

Presbia™ is a quick, safe and effective procedure that will help you regain close vision after age-related blurring of near objects has become an issue for you.
 
When you book a free consultation at the Optilase Clinic nearest you, the Optometrist will assess your eyes and see if Presbia™ is a good solution for your vision problems. If you wear reading glasses and are aged 40-60, you probably have presbyopia and may be a good candidate.
 
A tiny, very thin polymer lens is implanted in a little pocket in the cornea of one eye. This lens, the Presbia Flexivue Microlens™, is permeable and allows nutrient flow within the cornea, so maintains eye health. It’s biocompatible with your body and is invisible to the naked eye once it’s in.
 
The Presbia™ lens will help your eye focus the light entering it correctly onto the retina at the back of the eye, so you can form a clear image easily. All of a sudden near objects like your newspaper, mobile phone, menus and small details become clear, and you can put your reading glasses away.
 

Who is suitable for Presbia™?

The rate of eye aging affects everyone differently, and is sometimes dependent on other medical or hereditary factors. Usually, people start to notice problems reading close objects after age 40, when they find themselves holding things at arm’s length to try to focus on them. Many have bought reading glasses but have to keep taking them on and off, as distance vision is usually fine.
 
Talk to Optilase on +353 1 223 8821; book yourself a free consultation, and discover if you’re a candidate for Presbia. Be free from those specs!

The Flexivue System is a corneal inlay to correct presbyopia, developed by Presbia Coöperatief U.A. (Amsterdam and Los Angeles) and available exclusively in Ireland at Optilase.
 
The Presbia Flexivue Microlens™ inlay is inserted into a small pocket created in the central cornea with a femtosecond laser — the same type of laser used to create the corneal flap in all laser LASIK.
 
Unlike LASIK surgery, people undergoing the Presbia procedure will have no corneal tissue loss as a little pocket is made by the laser, and the Flexivue Microlens™ is inserted and positioned over the eye.
 

Corneal Implant Surgery Risks

 
As with any vision correction surgery, there are some minor risks associated with corneal implant and inlay surgery, including risks of infection and reduced vision.
 
Some patients may experience visual symptoms, including glare, halos, blurry or fluctuating vision and night vision problems. These symptoms are usually temporary and tend to resolve over time without treatment, or additional surgery may be required in rare cases.
 

Excellent Aftercare at Optilase

 
Once you have the Presbia™ procedure at Optilase, you will be monitored closely by your Optometrist and Ophthalmic Surgeon in a series of follow-up visits.
 
It’s important to attend your follow-up visits so your healing process and visual outcomes can be evaluated, and although you can probably dispense with your reading glasses you might need them if you’re doing close work for long periods of time, or in poor light.
 
If your vision isn’t improved to an acceptable level after corneal implant surgery, in some cases removing the intracorneal inlay and replacing it with one of a different power may improve results.
 

Your Options Remain Open with Presbia

 
Remember that your Flexivue Microlens™ is easily removed or exchanged as your vision requirements change, and you can always avail of a different type of refractive surgery, such as LASIK or PRK, to improve your vision as time goes on if your surgeon advises it.
 
Schedule a free consultation at Optilase by calling +353 1 223 8821 and get the answers to any questions you may have.

Exclusive to Optilase in Ireland, the Presbia Flexivue Microlens™ corneal inlay is a safe and effective choice for correction of presbyopia in what Ophthalmic Surgeons call ‘young patients’.
 
The Flexivue Microlens™ is for patients with Presbyopia, or aging of the eye, who have trouble focusing on near objects and need reading glasses.
 
When it comes to your eyes, you’re a ‘young’ patient if you’re aged between 40 and 60, although the state of your eyes varies by genetic factors and other optical predispositions.
 

Implantation of Flexivue Microlens™

 
It’s a swift procedure: your Ophthalmic Surgeon will implant the lens in a few moments, and the entire procedure only takes about 10 minutes.
 
It’s compatible with your body: The lens is a tiny piece of polymer-which is biocompatible with your body so it doesn’t cause any adverse reactions- which is implanted into the cornea. It’s microscopically thin, and permeable.
 
You only need one: The Flexivue Microlens™ is implanted into one eye; the non-dominant one.
 
Presbia gives you spectacle independence, which is a posh way of saying the procedure will free you from being dependent on reading glasses.
 
It’s invisible: the lens can’t be seen against your eye.
 
It won’t interfere with any future cataract surgery: the presence of the inlay in the eye may not inhibit future cataract surgery if it’s required.
 
It can stay in your eye for years if it suits your vision: the Flexivue Microlens™ is a permeable inlay, allowing nutrients to flow through the cornea to the anterior part of the eye. The inlay can be in the cornea for many years and not cause problems to the nutrition of the cornea.
 

Removal of Flexivue Microlens™

Your vision requirements will change over the years as your eyes get older (along with the rest of you). The Presbia Flexivue Microlens™ can be easily taken out and updated: when patients’ refraction changes with age, the inlay can be removed or exchanged when needed; a great option for patients who want to remain open to advances in eye treatment in the future.
 
To book a free consultation and see if you are a candidate for corneal inlays, call Optilase on +353 1 223 8821

Simple; they can give you back your near vision. Actually, you only need one of them; just a single corneal inlay is implanted into your non-dominant eye.
 
Why Corneal Inlays?
 
Corneal inlays are really less invasive than other current types of presbyopia treatments. For example, if you have Presbyopia at the moment you’re probably using reading glasses to see this. Wouldn’t it be nice not to be dependent on corrective eyewear for close vision?
 
There are other surgical treatments that can help you get rid of your glasses; yes-but they have side effects which create monovision; not an optimal solution for a lot of patients.
 
Is Having a Corneal Inlay a Big Surgery?
 
The Presbia Flexivue Microlens™ is easy to implant and, in most cases, the procedure takes less than 10 minutes.
 
The Presbia Flexivue Microlens™ is removable and replaceable if the patient needs additional power later, since visual acuity predictably changes with aging. It’s the ideal solution to an aging eye problem, with the flexibility of change and updating allowed for.
 
How does a Corneal Inlay work?
 
Essentially, the Flexivue Microlens changes the refractive index of the eye and creates a myopic area in the centre of the field of vision. In other words, it makes you able to see things close up, by correcting the focus of the eyes so that objects near the eye seem clearer and brighter, as the image is now being focused correctly onto the retina by the corneal implant.
 
To book a free consultation and find out if you are a candidate for corneal inlays, call Optilase at +353 1 223 8821

There are a few other procedures for older people with cataracts that try to incorporate the treatment of presbyopia, but the Presbia Flexivue Microlens solution is one of very few surgical procedures specifically targeted for treatment of presbyopia.
 
Most of the other procedures aren’t cosmetically appealing, are not reversible at all and are generally a lot more invasive.
 
In keeping with the age of the world’s population 25% ,unsurprisingly, are presbyopic, meaning they have trouble with near vision and are dependent on corrective eyewear.
 
Slightly less than half of this number would be suitable for the Presbia Flexivue Microlens procedure, and you may well be one of them.
 
What is the Presbia Flexivue Microlens exactly?
 
Your Ophthalmic surgeon will use a femtosecond laser to create a tiny pocket in the cornea of your eye-the non-dominant eye. The Microlens is them implanted into this little pocket using a precision engineer insertion tool that comes with the Microlens.
 
The lens itself is really very tiny indeed; 3mm in diameter, 15 microns in edge thickness (microscopically thin) and you can’t see it once it’s placed on the cornea.
 
It’s made of a material called hydrophilic polymer, similar to the material that’s been tried and tested in intraocular lenses for years, so we know it’s completely bio-compatible with the cornea and won’t cause any issues with corneal health.
 
The lens is easily removed should a change of prescription be required as the aging process continues.
 
How Do I know a Flexivue Microlens is right for me?
 
Simply call Optilase on +353 1 223 8821 and book a free consultation. If you have the kind of presbyopia that will respond to a corneal inlay, Optilase have a couple of options for you.

Presbyopia is going to catch up with us all. It simply means aging of the eye, and it’s inevitable.
 
What is Presbyopia?
 
The crystalline lens of the eye is soft, flexible and gel-like in youth, but as the eye begins to age (along with the rest of our body) the lens starts to stiffen up and is more difficult to squeeze in to shape by the cillary muscles of the eye.
 
How Can I overcome Presbyopia?
 
Before now there weren’t many options to overcome Presbyopia, but recent exciting advances in Ophthalmology give patients the choice of a corneal inlay which corrects the condition.
 
Optilase now offer the Presbia Flexivue Microlens, an astounding little piece of engineering which is fitted into only one eye; the non-dominant one, to correct your vision.
 
It’s extremely safe, easily removable and replaceable if a new prescription is needed, and unlike many other corrective eye procedures there is no permanent corneal tissue loss.
 
The Presbia Flexivue Microlens provides:
 
Safety
• It’s removable & replaceable
• Unlike LASIK, there is no permanent loss of corneal tissue
• It’s biocompatible with the cornea
 
Performance
• Significantly improves near vision
• Fast visual recovery, usually within a couple of days
• Distance vision acuity doesn’t change
 
Satisfaction
• No need for reading glasses in normal lighting conditions
• Cosmetically appealing: the Presbia Flexivue Microlens™ cannot be seen by a naked eye
 
Call Optilase on 180 301 302 to book your free consultation and find out if corneal inlays will work for you.

Do I Have Presbyopia?
 
If you’re over 40 and have started holding things away from you at arm’s length to read them-you do.
 
Presbyopia is a progressive problem; it’s the inability of the eye to see things close up and focus on near objects; it happens as our eyes get old. It’s a natural part of the aging process, and completely common.
 
You might even have noticed in your mid-thirties that fine print was really difficult to read (that’s why all the unpleasant things are written in fine print!) People end up holding objects away from them in an attempt to get a clear focus. Eventually your arms become too short!
 
What Causes Presbyopia?
 
Most ophthalmologists agree that it’s generally caused by a loss of elasticity of the natural crystalline lens in the eye, making it difficult for the lens to change shape to try to focus on near objects. The curvature of the lens changes over time as it stiffens up with age, and the cillary muscles that usually squeeze it into position also get weak.
 
People who have decent distance vision for most of their lives are often the first to notice presbyopia. The most common solution to the problem is reading glasses, but for people who see well at a distance, glasses can be annoying as they have to keep taking them on and off to switch focus.
 
Will the Flexivue Microlens fix my Near Vision?
 
The Presbia Flexivue Microlens™ will suddenly give you back your ability to read newspapers, menus, labels and your mobile phone without glasses or waving it 3 feet away from you.
 
An implanted lens is much handier than glasses-glasses always seem to disappear when you need them; get broken or scratched, or you may spend half an hour hunting for them while they’ve been perched all the while on the top of your head.
 
Without correction, your aging lens sends an out of focus image onto the retina at the back of your eye, ultimately having to focus the image behind the retina.
 
With the Presbia Flexivue Microlens, however, you’ll be able to see near objects much more clearly, as the lens focuses the objects and the image arrives atop your retina in-focus.
 
The lens is tiny and hardly discernible to the naked eye. To see if Flexivue Microlens will work for you, call Optilase on +353 1 223 8821.

As the natural lens ages, its ability to ‘accommodate’- that is, to alter shape to provide focus on objects at all distances- begins to fail. Laser Eye Surgery can restore some of the functions of our natural lens, and now there are options for correction of Presbyopia.
 
Corneal Inlays will fix your Focus
 
Presbyopia affects all of us after a certain age; the aging of the lens is inevitable and many of us have trouble focusing on near objects. Corneal Inlays are an extremely effective way to restore the abilities of focus to your ageing eyes.
 
Kamra and Presbia Flexivue Microlens are both types of corneal inlay, each doing something slightly different. Inlays are typically inserted into a tiny corneal pocket, and they improve near vision by creating a central myopic area (Presbia) or increasing the depth of focus (Kamra).
 
How Corneal Inlays Work
 
Each has a different mechanism of action, and each gets implanted into the non-dominant eye-you only need to have one inlay implanted.
They both work slightly differently-the Kamra increases the depth of focus through a sort of pinhole, like the zoom feature on a camera.
The Flexivue Microlens changes the central refractive index in the eye and focuses image properly on the retina.
A femtosecond laser is used by the Optilase Ophthalmic surgeon in each case; he can create a tiny little flap or pocket and slip the corneal inlay neatly into place.
 
Easier Life with Corneal Inlay
 
Inlays are great for presbyopes (people with presbyopia) of pre-cataract age; usually in your 40s. They are so very tiny that they’re really more or less invisible to the naked eye-and remember, you will only have one inlay in one eye.
 
The difference a corneal inlay like the Flexivue Microlens can make is really quite astounding; near vision is instantly improved as correct focus is restored. As distance vision isn’t impacted at all, the procedure is great for those whose distance vision is just fine but who have to wear reading glasses for close work.
 
Call Optilase on +353 1 223 8821 to book your free consultation and see if you are a good candidate for the Presbia Flexivue Microlens.

KAMRA inlays are a very clever solution for Presbyopia sufferers, as usually those people have experienced a gradual stiffening of the crystalline lens in their eye as well as issue with the muscles that control it, resulting in problems seeing object very near the eye.
 
The eye just can’t focus on near objects anymore without help, which is why most of us find we need reading glasses after aged about 40 or so. People who wear contact lens for other vision issues need glasses on top of them, and habitual glasses-wearers need bifocals.
 
Flexivue Microlens could be the solution to your near-vision Presbyopia problem, but not everyone will be suited to the procedure.
 
When you make an appointment with Optilase you’ll receive a very comprehensive eye examination to determination whether or not you’d make a suitable candidate for this particular surgery.
 
The corneal inlay/implant of a Flexivue Microlens will only be recommended is it is an appropriate, effective solution for you.
 
It’s not usually recommended if you have any of the following conditions;
 
Cataract (clouding of the lens in your eye)
 
Glaucoma (a serious disease where the optic nerve itself is damaged, leading to progressive irreversible loss of vision)
 
Amblyopia (or ‘lazy eye’, a visual disorder causing indistinct vision in one eye even though that eye is physically normal)
 
Keratoconus (deterioration of the cornea until it’s really thin and causes bulging into a cone shape)
 
Pterygium (a non-cancerous growth of the conjunctiva)
 
If you have other medical conditions like uncontrolled diabetes; severe allergies; an auto-immune disease or indeed if you are currently pregnant or nursing, your Optometrist will explain why you are not suited to the Flexivue Microlens implant.
 
Optilase take great time and care with every patient or potential patient who comes to them and will tell you clearly and honestly what is best for you. To find out if you are suitable for this life-changing treatment call Optilase now on +353 1 223 8821 or visit Optilase website www.optilase.com