With the majority of today’s cataract patients arriving at their appointments well-researched and more demanding than ever before, it is fortunate that surgeons have a multitude of innovations to call upon that can assist them in delivering exceptional postoperative visual acuity. The latest phaco machines, ophthalmic viscosurgical devices, intraoperative aberrometers, laser systems for cataract surgery, and IOL designs have helped to transform the goal of cataract surgery from visual rehabilitation to refractive accuracy.

Parallel to this new era of cataract surgery—refractive cataract surgery—is an increase in patients’ desire for spectacle independence at all distances. Luckily an abundance of advances in IOL technology and design can now help surgeons to minimize patients’ need for glasses at most distances and further their pursuit of more predictable postoperative outcomes. Although a truly accommodating IOL is not yet available, several new lens technologies use different strategies to extend depth of focus, providing patients with a clearer image over a wider range of vision. Another area of promise is IOL technologies that allow surgeons to correct the power and toricity of an IOL after implantation—in other words, modifiable IOLs. The Light Adjustable Lens (Calhoun Vision) is already available in Europe and other parts of the world, and other technologies are on the horizon.

The following group of articles explores several modifiable IOL technologies and recaps the entrance of extended depth of focus lenses into the market.

– Laura Straub, Editor-in-Chief