PowerVision
PowerVision has developed “the first true shape-changing, fluid driven intraocular lens (IOL),” CEO Barry Cheskin said. The FluidVision IOL creates a “continuously variable monofocal” where no light is split as is currently the case with multifocal lenses. The lens mimics the eye’s natural accommodative power to transport fluids inside it, which creates the shape change. To date, the lens has been through several multicenter studies, first as a 4-mm system, then as 3.5 mm. The company completed its targeted enrollment for a multicenter study with the 3.5 mm system.
The FluidVision IOL has 24-month follow-up data that shows “stable excellent visual outcomes,” Mr. Cheskin said. Based on monocular results, the company expects 20/25 binocular vision. Using a defocus curve, the FluidVision seems to produce around 3.5 D of accommodation monocularly, which translates to about 1.5 D binocularly (presuming the second eye is not implanted). Using an autorefractor and adjusting to alternating near and far stimuli, there is about 2.5 D of accommodation. Further, there is no loss of contrast sensitivity under mesopic conditions with or without glare. The lens performs as well as a monofocal in these circumstances, and better than multifocals.
The company used OIS to introduce the FluidVision 20/20 lens, designed to provide twice the accommodative power of the current technology. The new lens is a “close cousin” of the current device in terms of optics and mechanics, but “promises to provide a leapfrog performance over the existing technology,” Cheskin said, adding he expects the lens to provide 20/20 vision across all distances without compromise. PowerVision expects the lens in the clinic during the first half of 2016. Ultimately, the FluidVision platform will also include toric features, an even smaller incision size, and allow for the correction of refractive errors post-implant.
Participant:
Barry Cheskin
Barry Cheskin is Co-Founder, President & CEO of PowerVision. Mr. Cheskin has over 20 years of general management experience in the medical device business.