The Restor lens:  manufactured by Alcon, the Restor lens provides excellent distance and reading vision.  Its intermediate vision (computer screens, etc.) is not quite as good as the distance and reading vision typically achieved by most patients with this implant. 

The Rezoom lens:  manufactured by AMO, the Rezoom provides excellent distance and intermediate vision, and good near vision. 

Weaknesses inherent in all multifocal IOL designs include aberrations that can cause glare and halos, especially at night.  About 1 in 20 patients describe the glare and halos with multifocal lenses as “severe.”  Multifocal lenses work best with binocular vision (both eyes working together), therefore, you will not get the full effect of multifocal vision until you have had surgery on your second eye.

Although multifocal lenses may represent your best option for reducing your dependence upon glasses and contact lenses, it is impossible to guarantee that you will be able to throw away your glasses.  Reading glasses, for instance, will always magnify near objects, thus making them easier to see, even with multifocal lenses. 

Because Medicare and private insurance companies generally consider multifocal lenses to represent a luxury technology that is not absolutely necessary for good vision, multifocal lenses are not covered by Medicare and insurance.  Multifocal lenses are approved by the FDA for rehabilitating vision after cataract surgery.  The use of multifocal lenses to correct vision after refractive lens exchange has not been studied by the FDA and represents an “off label” use of the technology.  If you and your surgeon feel that a multifocal lens is in your best interest, however, a multifocal lens such as a Restor or Rezoom can be used during refractive lens exchange.