There are many unique advantages of STAAR® Surgical Company's Visian ICL™. For years, the only method of permanent vision correction that didn't involve glasses or contact lenses was corrective laser eye surgery. With the advent of the Visian ICL, however, that's all changed. Now, even patients whose corneas are too thin, or who are too near-sighted for Lasik or PRK - can enjoy “High Definition Visian™” – vision correction that's sharper, clearer, more vivid, and has greater depth and dimension – in a simple, 15-minute outpatient procedure.

The Visian ICL offers vision correction that's sharper, clearer, more vivid, and has greater depth and dimension than other procedures. The main advantage of the Visian ICL over traditional corrective laser eye surgery is that patients may experience significant improvement in quality of vision after the lens is implanted.

When compared to the results of corneal refractive surgery, the Visian ICL may produce superior vision quality as evidenced by fewer higher order aberrations. Patients experience a nearly immediate visual recovery and “Wow!” results.

The lens is invisible to both the patient and any observer. Also, its positioning in the eye maintains normal iris function, promotes stability, and may reduce potential complications. The entire lens insertion procedure can take as little as 15 minutes!

After the simple 15-minute outpatient procedure, patients experience an immediate improvement in vision quality and are “Wowed” by the results. In fact, the quality of vision achieved is many times better than any previous vision correction solution.

The recovery time for the Visian ICL is very quick and comfortable, and may be as little as a day, due to the very small size of the incision required. The incision needed to implant the foldable Visian ICL is tiny and located on the far edge of the cornea, where there is little danger of it interfering with vision. Once the lens is implanted, sutures are typically not needed to close the incision, further simplifying the procedure. Read more about the safety of the Visian ICL.

Patients undergoing corneal refractive procedures, such as LASIK and PRK, may be susceptible to side effects associated with corneal surgery including dry eye and thinning of the cornea. The LASIK procedure involves removal of tissue from the cornea, which means some of its complications may be more difficult to correct than the possible complications of the Visian ICL.

All surgical procedures carry some risk; however, the side effects or complications related to the Visian ICL, in most cases, can be corrected by your own surgeon.

One of the most common concerns that people have about corrective laser eye surgery is that the procedure permanently changes the eye, and what will happen if a complication arises. One of the important advantages of the Visian ICL is that while it can permanently correct your vision, in the unlikely event that an ICL patient experiences negative side effects after surgery, the lens can be removed and/or replaced if necessary.

Also, concerns involving the cornea typically do not apply to the Visian ICL, as no natural tissue is removed or changed (reshaped) in any way during implantation.