Characterizing glare effects associated with diffractive optics in presbyopia-correcting intraocular lenses

Purpose: To objectively quantify glare of intraocular lenses (IOLs) utilizing a diffractive principle to extend visual range. To identify models with increased susceptibility to inducing glare. Setting: David J Apple Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany. Design: Laboratory investigation. Methods: Glare was assessed by means of straylight parameter with a standard C-Quant (Oculus GmbH) intended for 7°. In addition, two C-Quant modifications were used to test lower angles (i.e., 2.5° and 3.5°). The following IOL models were assessed: PanOptix (Alcon Inc.) and AT Lisa Tri (Zeiss Meditec), Synergy (J&J Vision), and Triumf (BVI Medical), the latter two with chromatic-aberration correction at distance. Straylight from trifocals was compared against a monofocal W-60R lens (Santen). The C-Quant test was performed through the studied IOLs via additional optical components attached to its ocular. Results: Straylight (deg 2 sr -1 ) of the control was <1 at all tested angles, with the trifocal models showing comparable straylight at 7°. At 3.5°, Triumf’s straylight increased to 15.5 ±0.6, followed by Synergy (6.2 ±1.1), PanOptix (4.1 ±0.3), and AT Lisa Tri (2.0 ±0.8). The chromatic-aberration correcting models demonstrated correspondingly high straylight (Synergy: 18.8 ±1.3; Triumf: 17.3 ±0.5) at 2.5° compared to PanOptix (4.3 ±0.4), AT Lisa Tri (2.1 ±0.1) and monofocal IOLs yielding minimal or no increase. Conclusions: Trifocal IOLs induced increased straylight, but it was limited to lower angles, which may cause difficulties detecting these effects using a standard clinical approach. The latest IOL designs featuring chromatic aberration correction at far-focus appear more susceptible than the established trifocals to inducing glare phenomena.