Cataract and Lens Implants

Your eye specialist will perform a complete eye examination. This will take between two and three hours. For this examination, the following procedures are regularly performed.

• Visual Acuity Test. Assesses distance and near vision.

• Refraction

• Verifies the strength of corrective glasses required for the best possible vision

• Slit Lamp examination

• A microscopic examination of the front part of the eye, including the cornea, iris and the lens.

• Tonometry – Measures the eye pressure to check for glaucoma.

• Ophthalmoscopy

• Helps the doctor to study the back of the eye especially to detect abnormalities in the retina and optic nerve.

If Cataract Surgery is required, further scanning tests (called DBR) are necessary to measure the eye to assess what power of lens implant will give optimum vision.

The visual acuity (VA) test is most often utilized to measure a patient's vision. A "self-test" eye chart is found on this site which allows you to check your vision. It's important to keep in mind the variables that may effect the test results, such as room illumination, computer graphics card, monitor type etc.

• Check each eye's VA separately by covering the other eye.
• Check VA's with and without glasses on.
• Maximize your browser window so you can see the images most naturally!
• Place yourself at a distance of about 10 to 12 feet or 3 to 4 meters.
• Read the eye chart line of letters from large to small. At the top left of each line you will find the approximate VA, expressed in tenths, that would be necessary to read the letters.
• To conduct a quicker and more accurate exam, have a second person cover and uncover the line of letters.

The refraction test is an eye exam that measures a person's ability to see an object at a specific distance.

This test is performed by an ophthalmologist or optometrist (eye doctor). You sit in a chair that has a special device (phoropter or refractor) attached to it and look through the phoropter at an eye chart approximately 20 feet away. The phoropter contains lenses of different strengths that can be moved into view.

The eye doctor will ask if the chart appears more or less clear with the lenses that are in place.

The eye doctor can determine if you have nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism (asymmetrical cornea), or presbyopia (inability to focus on objects that are close to you). The extent of vision difficulty can be determined. The information obtained from a refraction test allows the prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses to be correct for each person.

How safe is Cataract Surgery  |  Intraocular Lens  |  Patient Care