STAAR® developed, patented, and licensed the first foldable intraocular lens, or IOL, for cataract surgery. Made of pliable material, the foldable IOL permitted surgeons for the first time to replace a cataract patient’s natural lens with minimally invasive surgery. The foldable IOL became the standard of care for cataract surgery throughout the world. STAAR introduced its first versions of the lens, made of silicone, in 1991.
In 1996 STAAR began selling the Visian ICL® outside the U.S. Made of STAAR’s proprietary biocompatible Collamer® lens material, the ICL is implanted behind the iris and in front of the patient’s natural lens to treat refractive errors such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. The ICL received CE Mark in 1997, permitting sale in countries that require the European Union CE Mark, and it received FDA approval for the treatment of myopia in the U.S. in December 2005.
STAAR sells EVO ICL and Visian ICL family of lenses in more than 75 countries, and more than 2,000,000 ICLs have been sold worldwide.