To avoid confusion: the Artisan/Artiflex and Veriseyes/Veriflex are identical intraocular lenses used in phakic lens surgery. They are all manufactured by the same manufacturer (Ophtec, Netherlands) and Veriseyes is the market name for the device distributed by AMO under license.
The "-flex" suffix refers to the foldable variety of the implant which can be placed through an even smaller incision.
THE PROCEDURE
The procedure is classified under Phakic IOL procedures. The phakic portion means your own crystalline lens is retained and another lens is added in. Like the Implantable Contact Lens (ICL) procedure, the Artisan / Veriseyes phakic lens is inserted through a small incision. Unlike ICLs the lens is placed inside the anterior chamber in front of the iris. Tiny hooks hold it in place on the iris. This can be done under local anesthetic or general where you are completely asleep. Like ICL, our preference at the Centre for Sight is to perform one eye at a time with a minimum of 1 week between. This is so that we are confident that the first eye following the phakic IOL procedure is well on its way to recovery. We want to be sure that the intraocular lens provides good vision for the first eye before embarking on the second eye. In less conservative countries than the UK, both eyes are treated at the same time. We at Centre for Sight believe this is unnecessary and prefer the former option.
Recovery from the phakic lens procedure can be very rapid. Most patients seen at the first postoperative day cannot wait for the second eye treatment to be completed !
ASTIGMATISM
Those with high astigmatism are also suitable for this type of phakic IOL procedure although the intraocular lens may have to be made as a special order specifically for the patient. For low levels of correction, Centre for Sight perform corrective incisional limbal relaxing incisions at the time of surgery.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Success of the procedure is highly dependent on attention to detail in the pre-operative examination and tests as well as the surgeon performing the procedure.
IMPORTANT PREOPERATIVE TESTS
Specular Microscopy
VIsante or Pentacam anterior segment imaging