glossary

The eye?s lens consists of tightly packed layers of transparent protein fibres contained within an elastic capsule. During cataract surgery, the layers of lens fibres are removed, but the posterior part of the lens capsule and its supporting zonular fibres are retained to act as a support for the lens implant.

The natural lens inside the eye. Transparent, biconvex intraocular tissue that helps refract rays of light to a point focus on the retina.

The process of thinning the edges of a minus lens or centers of plus lenses using a carrier shape or change of curvature. It involves specifying an area of the lens as the ‘visual area’, which is the part of the lens the patient is intended to actually look through. This ‘visual area’ is also referred to as a ‘bowl’, and can be as small as 30mm. The balance of the lens has edges thinned in minus lenses and centers thinned in plus.