STAAR Surgical Celebrates ICL Procedure’s 30th Anniversary

STAAR Surgical reported Oct. 17 that October 2023 marked the 30th anniversary of the first implantations of the company’s Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL).

The lens is intended to be implanted between the iris and natural lens to reduce nearsightedness with and without astigmatism in a procedure that typically takes 20 to 30 minutes.

The Lake Forest, California, company noted that surgeons who implanted the early lenses included Roberto Zaldivar, MD, founder of the Zaldivar Institute in Argentina, who remains a consultant for STAAR three decades later, along with son Roger Zaldivar, MD, a frequent speaker at ophthalmic meetings.

STAAR began selling the ICL in 1996.

The latest generation of the lens, the Evo with a central port, gained CE marking in 2011 and US FDA approval in 2022.

STAAR said it had sold more than 2.5 million ICLs in more than 75 countries.