Intraocular Lens Laboratories
Fred's Vision
Fred Hollows, and later The Fred Hollows Foundation, championed the use of modern cataract surgery in developing countries using an implanted intraocular lens (IOL), a thin piece of clinical grade plastic.
Prior to the mid 1990s, the substantial cost of IOLs in any developing country was one of the major contributing factors preventing people from being able to access modern cataract surgery, which uses the method of replacing the cataract affected lens of the eye with an IOL. This surgical technique was previously not widely available and was thought to be too complicated, risky and expensive to implement outside of westernised medical conditions.
Following the initiative of the late Professor Fred Hollows, The Foundation helped establish laboratories in Nepal and Eritrea to produce IOLs at a much cheaper cost. The laboratories were officially opened in both countries in 1994.
Once the laboratories in Eritrea and Nepal began production the availability of high quality, low cost IOLs began to dramatically increase. The laboratories were producing IOLs for approximately 3.5% of the cost of other branded lenses, which facilitated the significant drop in their market price.
Each of the laboratories uses sophisticated clean-room technology and operates in accordance with international standards of ‘Good Manufacturing Practice". Both laboratories consistently achieve internationally recognised quality certification.
Advances in surgical techniques and IOL technology
In 1998, Dr Sanduk Ruit and his team at The Tilganga Eye Centre in Nepal (a trusted partner of The Foundation) developed a new technique for cataract surgery that did not involve the use of sutures (thread for stitching) one of the most expensive components of the operation.
Not only is ‘sutureless surgery’ far less expensive, it is safer and faster (taking around half the time of the standard technique). Many of the training programs supported by The Foundation now train surgeons in the new sutureless technique, along with the standard techniques.
A new IOL design was developed to match the needs of sutureless surgery. Known as the FH105, the IOL is smaller in diameter and fits snugly into the eye through a tighter incision.
In 2001, Tilganga Eye Centre developed a further refinement to its sutureless technique called ‘temporal’ section which makes an incision on the side rather than from the top of the eye. The ‘temporal’ section produces better results and leads to a quicker recovery time for patients.
The Foundation has also developed an automated IOL manufacturing process that has helped to increase production output and further reduce the cost of IOLs. The award winning FH2000 Lathe, capable of manufacturing up to 320,000 IOLs per year, is currently operating in the IOL Laboratory in Nepal.
Up until late 2003, The Foundation had provided financial, technical and marketing support to both laboratories. But profits derived from the sale of the lenses has ensured the long term sustainability of the IOL manufacturing facilities, with money poured back into the laboratories and into local eye health programs.
Today, the Fred Hollows IOL Laboratories are independently owned and locally operated, with high quality, low cost IOLs exported to more than 40 countries world wide. Over three million lens have been produced for local and export use.