Step 3: The Implantation Procedure

The telescope implantation surgical procedure is performed on only one eye. It involves removing the eye's natural lens and replacing it with a tiny telescope implant. This part of the treatment process is done in a relatively short outpatient surgery by a specially trained opthalmologist who performs cornea and cataract surgeries (cornea/cataract surgeon). You won't have to stay in a hospital and will return home the same day.

The surgery involves several steps:

• Your eye will be numbed at the beginning of the procedure so you will not feel any pain
• Special eye drops will be administered to temporarily enlarge your pupil
• Your eye will be held open with a special instrument called a lid speculum, and an operating microscope will be placed in front of your eye
• The surgeon will remove your eye's natural lens
• The telescope prothesis will be placed in the same position where the natural lens was located
• The surgical incision will be sutured closed

The surgical procedure will take approximately 1 hour.

If there are complications during your surgery, your surgeon may not be able to finish the procedure. This means that you may undergo surgery, but not be able to receive the telescope implant and the potential benefits you could gain with it. If this is the case, your surgeon will attempt to implant a standard intraocular lens (IOL), as in any procedure for cataract removal.

Before the surgery, be sure to discuss any questions you might have with your surgeon. After surgery, you will have follow-up visits with your surgeon and eyedrops to take for several weeks.