STAAR Surgical releases aspheric single-piece IOL

Monrovia, CA

-STAAR Surgical Co. has announced the release of a new IOL (Afinity Collamer Aspheric Single Piece New Technology IOL [NTIOL]).

NTIOLs are lenses designated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as providing new clinical benefits. The recently released IOL can be delivered into the eye using a proprietary injector system (nanoPOINT, STAAR Surgical) through a 2.2-mm incision, which the company maintains is the smallest incision used with any NTIOL on the market.

“This is the third STAAR IOL in the market with NTIOL approval, which means that Medicare will reimburse an additional $50 per lens when [it is] provided to a Medicare patient in an ambulatory surgical center [ASC],” said Barry G. Caldwell, president and chief executive officer, STAAR Surgical. Most of the cataract surgeries performed by surgeons using the company’s products are performed in ASCs, he added.

The lens itself is composed of collagen, an ultraviolet-absorbing chromophore, and a poly-HEMA based co-polymer.

“Our patented . . . material has similarities with the eye’s natural crystalline lens. [It] has high water content and a gradient refractive index, much like the natural lens, providing for its superior anti-glare characteristics,” Caldwell said.

STAAR Surgical also has announced $100 reduction in the list price of its toric IOLs “to help doctors and patients during these challenging economic times,” Caldwell said.