Leon Higgins can watch television, read books, even menus, all without his glasses for the first time in years. He's no longer stumbling around the house for reading glasses and that's one pleasure he enjoys.

Higgins was having trouble seeing both near and far and he had cataracts and was ready to have a new procedure to help his deteriorating vision.

His natural lens had gone from clear to a yellowish color, affecting his night driving and his reading. Higgins has had glasses for 20 years, wearing them when he reads or when he's at work and driving a bus for Farmington schools.

"Hopefully I'll be able to get rid of the glasses altogether," said Higgins.

Higgins is ready for a quick operation called a clear lens extraction. Since his problem is seeing both near and far, he chose the procedure over Lasik surgery.

"We tend not to do Lasik surgery on people who are very high on their prescription. Those patients we recommend a clear lens extraction," said Dr. Walter Cukrowski of the Michigan Eyecare Institute.

Doctors removed his natural lens and replaced it with an artificial one.

The multi-focal lens will give Higgins near and far vision.

First the patient is given a slight sedation and the eyes are numbed.

Then, in less than 10 minutes per eye, doctors peel away his lens replacing it with a newer improved version.

Patients are usually most concerned about night driving and potential problems with glare and halos from on-coming traffic. But Cukrowski said patients indicated the problem actually improves after the surgery.

As for the price, if you have really bad cataracts, it's likely paid for by insurance. Otherwise it can cost about $2,500 per eye.

Additional Information

Michigan Eye Care Institute
Array Lens