South African Eye Centers Implant Revolutionary Accommodating Lens into Cataract Patients as Part of an International Clinical Trial

- Investigational lens designed to restore youthful vision and allow patients to see up close and far away

- Sites located in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria are currently enrolling patients

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, April 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Three leading eye centers in South Africa are enrolling cataract patients into an international clinical study of an investigational intraocular lens designed to restore vision at all distances, potentially eliminating the need for reading glasses or bifocals following surgery. This new lens, the FluidVision Accommodating Intraocular Lens, has been implanted into patients undergoing surgery to remove cataracts at participating sites in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria.

Cataracts, or the clouding of the lens in the eye, are the leading cause of blindness in South Africa, responsible for about 50% of the prevalence of blindness and identified as a national health priority.[1]

"As we age, the natural lens begins to stiffen and loses its ability to change shape which makes it more difficult to read and focus at near distances. As a result, millions of adults over age 50 require glasses for reading and seeing up close. Also, millions more patients develop cataracts, which further impairs their vision," said Dr. Frik Potgieter, M.B, ChB, Principal Investigator. "Current treatment options that restore both near and far vision are limited, so patients have to rely on reading glasses, bifocals or contacts to see properly. Results from an earlier pilot study of the FluidVision lens are quite encouraging, and we believe patients will benefit significantly from this lens which has the potential to restore the eye's ability to focus clearly on objects near, far and in between."

The FluidVision lens, developed by California-based company PowerVision, is a soft fluid-filled lens that changes shape and works with the eye's muscles to dynamically adjust focus to see up close and at a distance. This change in shape mimics that change that occurs in the natural crystalline lens in a healthy eye. The goal of using the FluidVision lens as a lens replacement is to restore the patient's accommodating vision range to see clearly virtually at all distances.

The FluidVision lens is implanted using the same surgical techniques, with minor variations, as traditional intraocular lenses. In early clinical studies of patients undergoing cataract surgery, this unique lens design has been shown to provide excellent visual acuity for distance and intermediate vision and to restore reading ability.

Participating centers are currently enrolling men and women over the age of 50 with cataracts.

"We are deeply grateful to all of our clinical investigators for their involvement and interest in this groundbreaking study," said PowerVision's President & CEO, Barry Cheskin. "Many millions of people around the world are impacted by cataracts and presbyopia and we believe there is a significant unmet need for more effective treatments of these clinical conditions."

For more information on the study, please visit clinicaltrials.gov, study identifier NCT02049567.

If you or someone you know is interested in joining the study in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Pretoria, please call Lynn Fourie at 012-6643994.

About Cataracts

A cataract is a cloudy or opaque area in the normally clear lens of the eye. Depending upon its size and location, it can interfere with normal vision. Most cataracts develop in people over age 55, but they occasionally occur in infants and young children. The treatment of cataracts is based on the level of visual impairment they cause. When a cataract progresses to the point that it affects a person's ability to do normal everyday tasks, surgery may be needed. Cataract surgery involves removing the diseased lens and replacing it with an artificial lens.[2]

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[1] The South African Medical Journal: http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/4643/3330

[2] The American Optometric Association: http://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/eye-and-vision-problems/glossary-of-eye-and-vision-conditions/cataract