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Chapter B7 The Intraocular Lens

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Abstract

Although the existence of the intraocular crystalline lens in the eye was recognized by the scholars of the Hellenistic period (about 2000 years ago), the actual role of the lens in vision was properly understood much later. Truly scientific approaches to the lens measurements and properties began to be applied only in the nineteenth century [1]. For instance, a simple property—the weight of the human intraocular lens—was first reported in 1883 [2].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queensland Eye Institute, 140 Melbourne Street, South Brisbane, QLD, 4101, Australia

    Traian V. Chirila & Shuko Suzuki

Authors
  1. Traian V. Chirila
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  2. Shuko Suzuki
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Correspondence to Traian V. Chirila .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, University of Wisconsin Department of Biomedical Engineering and, MADISON, Wisconsin, USA

    William Murphy

  2. King of Prussia, Principal: IMN Biomaterials King of Prussia, King of Prussia, PA, New York, USA

    Jonathan Black

  3. Staffordshire University (Emeritus), Lyme, Staffordshire, United Kingdom

    Garth Hastings

Additional Reading

Additional Reading

Bellows, J.G. (ed.) (1975) Cataract and Abnormalities of the Lens, Grune & Stratton, New York.

A valuable collection of 42 contributions on the lens, its pathology, and surgery, written by known experts such as Barraquer, Bellows, Choyce, Girard, Hockwin, Kaufman, Rosen, and Yanoff. The first five introductory chapters present historical aspects, development, and characterization of the lens. However, most of the book is dedicated to cataract and its treatment.

Spector, A. (1982) Aging of the lens and cataract formation, in Aging and Human Visual Function (eds R. Sekuler, D. Kline and K. Dismukes), Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York, pp. 27–43.

A brief but comprehensive account of the changes which take place in the composition and metabolism of the lens during aging and cataractogenesis.

Duncan, G. and Jacob, T.J.C. (1984) The lens as a physicochemical system, in The Eye, vol. lb, 3rd edn (ed H. Davson), Academic Press, Orlando, FL, pp. 159–206.

This text develops some topics usually neglected in other books, including the structural order in the lens, optical properties of the lens, role of lens membranes, and electrolyte transport and distribution in the lens.

Cotlier, E. (1987) The lens, in Adler’s Physiology of the Eye, 8th edn (eds R.A. Moses and W.M. Hart), C.V. Mosby Co., St. Louis, pp. 268–290.

A systematic presentation of the anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology of the lens.

Moses, R.A. (1987) Accommodation, in Adler’s Physiology of the Eye, 8th edn, (eds R.A. Moses and W.M. Hart), C.V. Mosby Co., St. Louis, pp. 291–310.

A thorough exposition of all aspects of the mechanism of accommodation and the role of the lens in vision. A text, by now classic, on a topic much more complex than it appears.

Jones, W.L. (1991) Traumatic injury to the lens. Optom. Clin., 1, 125–42.

This review article analyzes the effects of concussive trauma to the eye, emphasizing the types of injuries to the lens. The mechanical response of the anterior and posterior segments of the eye to external forces is also described.

Zampighi, G.A. (2006) The lens, in The Biology of the Eye, (ed J. Fischbarg), Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 149–79.

A concise but informative chapter on relevant aspects of the human lens, including its cellular architecture and the mechanisms of the molecular processes and fluxes.

Beebe, D.C. (2011) The lens, in Adler’s Physiology of the Eye, 11th edn (eds L.A. Levin et al.), Elsevier, Edinburgh, pp. 131–63.

Written by an expert, and beautifully illustrated, this text covers the current knowledge on the human lens and is supported by almost 500 references.

Recommended sources for ophthalmic terminology:

Cassin, B., Solomon, S.A.B. and Rubin, M.L. (1990) Dictionary of Eye Terminology, 2nd edn, Triad Publishing Co., Gainesville, FL, 286 pp.

Stein, H.A., Slatt, B.J. and Stein, R.M. (1992) Ophthalmic Terminology. Speller and Vocabulary Builder, 3rd edn, Mosby-Year Book Inc., St. Louis, MO, pp. 3–33, 243–257.

Myles, W.M. (1993) Ophthalmic etymology. Surv. Ophthalmol., 37, 306–9.

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Chirila, T.V., Suzuki, S. (2016). Chapter B7 The Intraocular Lens. In: Murphy, W., Black, J., Hastings, G. (eds) Handbook of Biomaterial Properties. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3305-1_10

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