John Kenyon Eye Institute

Prelex

Eliminate your need for reading glasses with Prelex

What Is Prelex (Presbyopic Lens Exchange)?

Not a candidate for LASIK? Cataracts not an issue? Presbyopic Lens Exchange, or PRELEX for short, may be right for you.

With PRELEX, patients can restore their near, intermediate, and far vision with an implantable, multi-focal lens that replaces the eye's crystalline lens. This procedure is especially suited for patients over 45 who haven't yet developed cataracts, but are far-sighted and dependent on bi-focals or tri-focals. Most PRELEX patients have a condition called presbyopia, a common part of the aging process, in which the eye's crystalline lens loses flexibility and the muscles that focus the lens weaken. If treated with LASIK, presbyopic patients would still need reading glasses for all close-up vision, such as reading books or dialing a phone.

What's even better is that since the eye's natural lens is replaced, PRELEX patients will never develop cataracts.

Is Prelex Right For Me?

Have you lost your near-vision and are noticing that your distance vision isn't as good as it once was? Do you reach for your reading glasses every time you read the paper or look at a menu? Or have you developed presbyopia in your 40s and noticed your distance vision is diminishing? If so, you're probably a candidate for PRELEX.

The Prelex Procedure

During your comprehensive eye evaluation, our doctors will take careful measurements to learn more about your eyes and determine if PRELEX is the best option to improve your vision.

The PRELEX procedure takes about 15 minutes where the eyeâ€™s natural lens is removed using gentle ultrasound energy, and is replaced with an artificial lens called an Intraocular Lens Implant (IOL). Most patients see improvement in their vision immediately after the procedure, and experience continued improvement for the next three to six months.

PRELEX is performed one eye at a time on separate visits. Surgery in the second eye can usually be performed as soon as one to two weeks later. Following the procedure, discomfort is typically mild with no need for pain medication. Postoperative care includes follow-up visits and restriction of activities involving heavy lifting.

Lifestyle Lens Options

The John-Kenyon American Eye Institute offers the latest in implantable lens options. Your doctor can help suggest the right lens for you:

ReSTOR IOL - The ReSTOR lens lets patients see from near to far, usually without glasses, using an innovative optical technology called "apodization." This technology, used in microscopes and telescopes, allows you to see the big picture, while also seeing fine detail.
Crystalens Accommodating IOL - The revolutionary new Crystalens IOL is a single-focus lens that works naturally with your eye muscles to give you the quality of vision you enjoyed when you were younger. The state-of-the-art Crystalens uses a "hinge" technology, which allows the lens to move, or accommodate, with your eye to focus seamlessly on objects near, far and all distances in-between.
TECNIS® Multifocal Lens - Designed to give patients back their youthful vision, the TECNIS® Multifocal Lens provides patients with high-quality vision at any distance and in any light condition - even in low light. The advanced TECNIS® Multifocal is an implantable lens that restores vision after cataract surgery and corrects presbyopia (the need for reading glasses). It delivers results superior to those of a standard multifocal lens and offers an excellent chance to become spectacle-independent.
Monofocal Aspheric Lenses: Aspheric IOLs are slightly flatter in the periphery and are designed to provide better contrast sensitivity. Contrast sensitivity is often referred to as "functional vision," beyond how well you see details on a standard eye chart. Poor contrast sensitivity also can cause you to stumble when you fail to see that you need to step down from a curb onto similarly colored pavement. Lack of contrast sensitivity is not the same as blurred vision. John-Kenyon offers two aspheric IOL options: The SofPort Advance Optics IOL and the Tecnic Monofocal IOL. Both lenses can provide better contrast sensitivity as well as the ability to reduce visual aberrations which can improve the ability to see in varying light conditions, such as rain, snow, fog, twilight and nighttime darkness.
Toric IOL - Toric IOL's correct not only your astigmatism but recapture quality distance vision in one step. Until the recent introduction of Toric IOLs, candidates for IOL's people could only have their nearsightedness and farsightedness corrected during the surgery. Toric IOL's correct not only your astigmatism but recapture quality distance vision in one step. These lenses provide the freedom from glasses you're looking for while correcting astigmatism.