IOLVIP

The Intraocular Lens for Visually Impaired Patients (IOLVIP or IOL-VIP) is an intraocular lens system aiming to treat patients with poor central vision due to age related macular degeneration.

The IOLVIP procedure involves the surgical implantation of a pair of lenses that magnify and divert the image using the principals of the Galilean telescope.

[1] By arranging the lenses it is possible to direct the image to a different part of the eye than the fovea, which is the centre of the macula and is usually used for detailed vision.

It is a procedure to give symptomatic relief rather than treat disease and is best understood as an implanted miniature telescope.

A telescopic simulator can be used to assess whether the surgery might be helpful, and to establish the best rotation for the two lenses.