Patent ID: 6214015
Filing Date: 2001-04-10
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
A method for deforming or compressing an intraocular lens and staging it for insertion into a patient's eye, comprising the steps of:(a) holding the lens with a rigid grasping means which engages the lens on opposite sides when the lens is in an undeformed or uncompressed condition;(b) inserting the lens into the proximal end of a loading area portion of a compression chamber, the loading area having a longitudinal passageway with a cross sectional dimension at the proximal end about the width of the lens, and gradually decreasing in size extending from the proximal end;(c) deforming or compressing the lens by pushing it through the passageway with the grasping means which is dimensioned to substantially avoid contact with the surface of the passageway as the surface defining the passageway causes the lens to gradually deform or compress as it is pushed through the passageway;(d) pushing the deformed or compressed lens into a staging area, while holding the lens with the grasping means;(e) withdrawing the grasping means after the lens is deformed or compressed to a final insertion condition in the staging area,wherein the step of inserting includes aligning the lens with a pair of ridges projecting from the surface defining the passageway in the loading area, the ridges guiding the edges of the lens into a deformed condition as the lens is pushed through the loading area.