What is the Vivity intraocular lens?

The Vivity intraocular lens is the latest generation of lenses that is used to replace the cataract during cataract surgery. It is classified as an “Extended Range of Vision” lens, meaning that patients with this intraocular lens will be able to see far and near without glasses.

With a standard monofocal intraocular lens, patients are typically able to see clearly far away without glasses. The inability to also see intermediate distances or close objects clearly without bifocals or reading glasses is known as presbyopia.

Traditional multifocal intraocular lenses address presbyopia by using diffractive technology. This technology can be thought of as etching alternating rings of different focusing powers onto the lens surface. One set of rings focuses on images far away, and the other focuses on objects close up. Only these two distances are in focus and images in between remain blurry. At night, the near focus rings could potentially result in creating glare or halos around distant lights.

In contrast, the Vivity intraocular lens is a non-diffractive lens. Instead of rings, the Vivity lens uses a smooth surface pattern that creates an extended range of vision. It not only allows patients to see far and near, but also see clearly and seamlessly all distances in between.

With respect to night vision side effects, because there are no rings, this lens performs like a standard monofocal lens, which is considered the gold standard in regards to the quality of night vision.

A significant advantage of the Vivity lens is that it is more forgiving with ocular pathology compared to multifocal lenses. If a patient has dry eyes or mild macular degeneration, a multifocal lens would potentially lead to worse vision, whereas the Vivity lens is more likely to perform equally as well as a standard monofocal lens.

The Vivity intraocular lens also has a version that corrects for astigmatism a called the Vivity Toric intraocular lens.

When you come in for your cataract consultation here at the San Jose Eye Institute, we can discuss whether the Vivity lens is best suited for your individual needs.