Dr. Assil Gives State-of-the-Art Odyssey IOL Lens Extremely High Praise

During the past year, while eye doctors worldwide advised patients on which intraocular lens implant would improve their eyesight, only one eye center was chosen to prescribe the new state-of-the-art Odyssey multifocal intraocular lens by Johnson & Johnson: The Assil Gaur Eye Institute.

Dr. Kerry Assil, an internationally renowned ophthalmologist with over 70,000 eye surgeries, and his esteemed partner, Dr. Avneet Sodhi Gaur, were the world’s first cataract surgeons to implant the Odyssey. After performing the first Odyssey lens implant nearly a year ago, the Assil Gaur Eye Institute was chosen by Johnson & Johnson to provide the lens to their patients and help define its best use cases.

What makes the Odyssey lens so ground-breaking?

Before the Odyssey multifocal lens, doctors could correct refractive errors by implanting one eye with a near-sighted corrective lens and the other with a far-sighted corrective lens. Another option was to correct distance vision using a premium IOL and continue using reading glasses for near vision.

With the Odyssey lens, doctors can now achieve clear vision at multiple focal points in both eyes simultaneously, just like the natural lenses in our eyes do.

Because of its unique characteristics, the Odyssey lens has become indispensable to the Assil Gaur Eye Institute’s Premium Cataract and Refractive Lens Exchange (RLE) surgical programs.

Some of the Odyssey lens’ benefits over other options include:

Visual acuity at all distances

A diffractive pattern etched into the lens’s front surface is uniquely configured and adjusted to minimize visual confusion when viewing over different distances. The pattern also boosts contrast sensitivity.

Enhanced vision by reducing chromatic aberration

The Odyssey lens’s special polymer material dramatically reduces chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration is a distortion that occurs when a lens fails to focus all colors it is seeing to the same convergence point. This results in a fringing of colors at the boundaries between the light and dark parts of what you are looking at.

Improved visual contrast

The lens also improves contrast acuity, allowing patients to better discern between shades and patterns. This allows patients to see better in different lighting conditions (such as reading road signs at night).

Minimized optical distortions by mimicking the characteristics of a young person’s lens

The Odyssey lens’s physical shape mimics the light-focusing attributes of a young, healthy person’s natural lens. The result is minimal optical distortions.

Reduced nighttime glare and haloes

A UV and violet-light filter called “Optiblue” helps filter out harmful light rays from daylight and also reduces nighttime glare and haloes. 

Eliminating unwanted “twinkling light” in front of the pupil

The Odyssey lens eliminates the “Cat’s Eye Pupil” phenomenon, which looks like a twinkling light in front of the pupil, a potential distraction to those talking with you while looking you in the eye.

Correcting astigmatism

The lens is also available for patients with astigmatism, an imperfection in the curvature of the eye’s cornea or lens. With astigmatism, vision is blurry at all distances.

The Odyssey lens demonstrates startling results

“In addition to having implanted several hundred lenses during simple cataract surgery, we also implanted [the Odyssey] in more complex cases who we felt were good candidates with great patient satisfaction,” said Dr. Assil.

Post-surgical outcome data for this new technology confirmed superb results in eyes that had additional challenges, such as:

• Implanting the Odyssey intraocular lenses in an eye having previously undergone Radial keratotomy (RK for correction of nearsightedness), Lasik, and PRK with exceptional outcomes.
• Exchanging implanted premium lenses that provided insufficient vision correction, including those with foggy or Vaseline vision, with the Odyssey lens. AGEI’s Odyssey exchange surgeries had excellent results, with the most dramatic case improving a patient’s range of vision from 20/30 to 20/20.
• Successfully treating patients with corneal issues, including dry eye or dandruff-like corneal surface dystrophy. Also, patients with larger pupil sizes.
• Correcting retinal problems, such as those seen in diabetes patients or those with central retinal scarring (Epiretinal Membrane).

“We are proud of our ongoing contributions to vision correction. This pioneering advance allows more patients to achieve spectacle independence,” said Dr. Gaur. “We were eager to evaluate the Odyssey lens in different settings and were extremely impressed by its contrast performance and great near and distance vision in various low-light settings.  We look forward to continuing to offer this lens to patients who will benefit greatly.”

Johnson & Johnson is now beginning to roll out the FDA-approved Odyssey lens to the general public.

Satisfied AGEI patients

Read our patient case studies and learn firsthand about the Odyssey lens experience at Assil Gaur Eye Institute.

• Steve, 62, glanced up at the Dodger’s scoreboard to see Mookie Bett’s batting average and couldn’t read a thing. That all changed when he got the state-of-the-art Odyssey multifocal IOL by Johnson & Johnson.
• Sylvia, 75, didn’t wait long to reap the rewards of her state-of-the-art Odyssey lens replacement surgery.
• Being glasses-free was a long time coming for Ally, 57, who said her quick RLE surgery with the Odyssey lens was “easy peasy.”
• Dr. Greta Torossian, 52, suffered from presbyopia, a common age-related vision loss that affects the ability of the eye’s lens to focus on close objects. The solution? Refractive lens exchange (RLE) procedure with the state-of-the-art Odyssey IOL Lens by Johnson & Johnson.
• Aram, 56, wanted to wait for more data before trying the state-of-the-art Odyssey lens. Now he says, “Everybody should get these lenses.”

Why trust Assil Gaur Eye Institute with your vision correction?

Dr. Kerry Assil has gained industry-wide respect for his extensive knowledge and contributions to cataract and refractive surgery. His knowledge of Intraocular lenses for cataract surgery and Refractive Lens Exchange is unparalleled.

With over 40 years of combined experience assisting patients with eye health, Drs. Assil and Gaur are among the most experienced eye surgeons in the United States. Dr. Assil has performed over 70,000 eye surgeries and authored over 100 textbook chapters and articles on refractive and cataract surgery.

In keeping with the founding principles of AGEI, their eye surgeons keep their clinics comfortable and familiar, much like how family-run medical practices used to be.

In addition to refractive lens exchange and cataract surgery, the ophthalmology experts at AGEI are nationally recognized for their eye care and treatment options for a full range of conditions, including eye conditions such as hyperopia glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinal detachment (and other diseases of the retina), cornea conditions, contact lens, floaters and flashes, dry eye, presbyopia correction, astigmatism, farsightedness, myopia, nearsightedness, and ‌other vision correction procedures (refractive surgery) such as LASIK surgery, PRK.

Today, AGEI is nationally recognized for its compassionate, patient-centric health care, commitment to pioneering advances in ophthalmology, and dedication to supporting the community’s health and well-being.

Please call (866) 945-2745 or make an appointment online.

Rest assured, when it comes to intraocular lenses, we have seen them all. Be it monofocal IOLs, trifocal IOLs, accommodating IOLs, extended depth of focus lenses (EDOF), intermediate vision IOLs, bifocal IOLs, Tecnis multifocal IOLs, PanOptix IOL (Alcon), Toric IOL, AcrySof IQ, monofocal lenses, Symfony and Vivity IOLs, ‌multifocal intraocular lenses, and Crystalens accommodating lens technology with an aspheric lens design.