In late June 2014 Abbott Medical Optics (AMO) announced that it had received the CE mark for its “TECNIS® Symfony Extended Range of Vision intraocular lens (IOL)“. So, Europeans get yet another advanced IOL that Americans will likely not have access to for years (if ever) due to our over-protective and administratively bloated medical technology approval process. After all, the AMO Synchrony dual-optic IOL received the CE mark in 2009 – five years later still no approval here in the USA.
So, what is this newly “CE marked” IOL? Well, there’s not a lot of information available on it but after a bit of research it appears to be a modified TECNIS® multifocal. The current TECNIS® multifocal IOL provides good distance and near vision without spectacles. Intermediate (computer) vision, however, is this IOL’s weak point. If one is to believe the marketing hype for the Symfony then it would be reasonable to expect the “extended range” of the TECNIS® Symfony to provide good distance, intermediate, and near vision without spectacles. That has been an elusive, and desirable, goal for years.
We’ll see…well, actually, here in the USA we probably won’t.
It’s a long list. Why should US citizens have to travel to other countries to get the best vision results?
I see the Acrysof ReSTOR 2.5, and the toric versions of the 2.5 and 3.0 ReSTOR multifocals are undergoing US trials. They also seem like excellent IOL options and received CE Mark in Feb 2012.
As variations of currently approved lenses, I wonder if FDA approval will be any faster.