It's being hailed as a breakthrough in vision correction. And if you don’t need it now, doctors say, you will when you get older.
It's called Crystalens. One local woman says she hasn't seen this clearly in 20 years.
Florence Doucette of Lynn had her vision corrected with Crystalens, she said, "It was really embarrassing, I'd look up at somebody and I really couldn't' see them."
Florence had blurry vision from cataracts for 20 years. Her doctor said she wasn't a good candidate for Lasik. Her recommendation - a new, high-tech lens that can focus like her eyes once did, so many years ago. Right after the operation, Florence says she noticed a big difference.
"It's like being blind, and now you can see again. It's probably one of the best things that happened to me…I'm thrilled, I really am!"
Dr. Helen Wu of New England Eye Center said, "This represents a really significant breakthrough in lens technology."
It's called "Crystalens", and here's how it works:
As the eye ages, it stiffens and clouds over, usually starting around age 45. The old, natural lens is removed and replaced with Crystalens, attached to eye muscles.
"The eye's own muscles moves the lens, and that allows you to see well in a range from distance to near," explained Dr. Wu.
Florence sees a vast improvement, "I can read the newspaper, I can see signs, signs on the highway, I can do my job better, I'm great on my computer now…it's almost like a miracle, it really is."
It's the first FDA approved lens that focuses like a natural eye. And now, Medicare has agreed to cover almost half the cost for the operation.
In clinical trials, 85 percent of Crystalens patients said they could focus at all distances. This procedure can not correct eyes that are damaged from a medical condition, such as diabetes.
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