Short Hills & Clifton, New Jersey
Your doctor adjusts this lens after surgery to match how your eyes actually heal, not a prediction made before the procedure.
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What Is the LAL
The Light Adjustable Lens (LAL) is the only intraocular lens implant that can be changed after it has been placed in your eye. Made by RxSight, it received full FDA approval and has been implanted in thousands of patients across the country.
During cataract surgery, your ophthalmologist removes the clouded natural lens and replaces it with an artificial one. With a standard implant, the prescription is calculated before surgery and cannot be modified once the lens is in place. If the result is slightly off, glasses or a second procedure may be needed to close the gap.
The LAL works differently. Its material responds to specific wavelengths of UV light, allowing your doctor to reshape the lens in the office after your eye has healed. Adjustments are painless, take only a few minutes, and can be repeated until your vision meets your goals. Once you and your doctor are satisfied, a final treatment locks the prescription permanently.
This gives your surgeon something no other implant offers: the ability to base your final prescription on measured results rather than pre-operative predictions.
Step by Step
Your ophthalmologist removes the clouded natural lens and places the LAL through the same small incision used in standard outpatient surgery. The procedure follows the same steps and recovery timeline as any other lens implant. Most patients notice clearer vision within days.
Starting two to three weeks after surgery, you return to the office for a series of brief UV light treatments using the RxSight Light Delivery Device. Each session takes only a few minutes and is painless. Your doctor measures your vision at each visit and directs the light to reshape the lens material until it matches your visual goals.
Most patients need two to four adjustment sessions over a period of several weeks. During this window you wear UV-blocking glasses provided by our office to protect the lens from uncontrolled light exposure between treatments.
Once your prescription is where you want it, a final UV treatment locks the lens permanently. After this point the material no longer responds to light and your vision correction is fixed for life. The lock-in visit follows the same format as the adjustment sessions and takes just a few minutes in the office.
UV light reshapes the lens material to adjust your prescription after surgery.
The full adjustment cycle from initial beam through lock-in treatment.
The full process from surgery through lock-in typically spans four to six weeks. Your surgeon sets the pace based on how your eye heals and responds to each adjustment. For a detailed overview of the surgical procedure itself, visit our cataract surgery page.
Is It Right for You
Not everyone who qualifies for lens replacement needs an adjustable implant. Standard and premium fixed-power lenses deliver excellent results for many patients. The LAL is worth considering when precision matters most to you and you want input on the outcome.
Patients who have strong preferences for a particular range of clear vision, whether distance, near, or intermediate, benefit from the ability to dial in their result after healing.
Eyes with astigmatism or other refractive factors that add complexity to pre-operative calculations gain the most from post-surgical correction. The adjustments account for variables that formulas alone cannot predict.
Patients who want the best possible chance of living without glasses after surgery. Clinical studies show LAL patients were twice as likely to reach 20/20 distance vision compared to those receiving a standard monofocal lens.
Prior refractive surgery changes how standard IOL formulas perform. The LAL sidesteps this problem entirely by adjusting the prescription based on measured results after the lens is in place.
Standard, toric, and multifocal IOLs are manufactured with a fixed prescription that cannot change after surgery. The LAL uses a photosensitive material that your doctor reshapes with UV light in the office, allowing the final prescription to be set after your eye has healed rather than before the procedure.
Most patients need two to four UV adjustment sessions, scheduled over a period of several weeks after surgery. The exact number depends on how your eye heals and how closely each adjustment brings your vision to your target. Each visit takes only a few minutes.
No. The UV light treatment is painless. You sit in front of the Light Delivery Device, similar to the equipment used during a standard eye exam, and the treatment is delivered in under two minutes per session. No anesthesia or numbing drops are required for the adjustment visits.
The full timeline from surgery through lock-in typically runs four to six weeks. Your surgeon determines the pace based on your healing. Once the lock-in treatment is complete, your prescription is permanent and will not change.
Yes, during the adjustment period between surgery and lock-in, typically three to four weeks. The glasses protect the photosensitive lens material from uncontrolled UV exposure that could alter the prescription outside of your scheduled treatments. Our office provides the glasses at no additional charge.
Insurance generally covers the surgical procedure and a standard monofocal lens implant. The upgrade to the LAL is a premium option with an additional out-of-pocket cost. FSA and HSA funds can be applied toward this cost. We verify your coverage and walk through your options during the consultation.
Experience and Access
Dr. Michael Farbowitz is a board-certified ophthalmologist who has performed thousands of lens implant procedures over a career spanning more than two decades. He was among the first surgeons in New Jersey to adopt femtosecond laser-assisted techniques and has continued to add advanced IOL technologies as they have received FDA clearance.
Dr. Farbowitz evaluates each patient individually and recommends the LAL when the clinical picture and the patient's visual goals support it. He performs the implantation, conducts every UV adjustment session personally, and makes the final lock-in decision based on measured outcomes rather than projected ones.
551 Millburn Ave
Short Hills, NJ 07078
Serving Millburn, Summit, Springfield, Livingston, Maplewood, and South Orange.
777 Passaic Ave, Suite 485
Clifton, NJ 07012
Serving Clifton, Passaic, Paterson, Wayne, Montclair, and Bloomfield.
Pricing and Coverage
The LAL is classified as a premium intraocular lens. Insurance typically covers the surgical procedure and a standard monofocal lens implant. The upgrade to the LAL carries an additional out-of-pocket cost that reflects the advanced lens technology and the series of post-operative adjustment visits.
We discuss pricing during your consultation so there are no surprises. The cost includes the lens itself, the UV adjustment sessions, the lock-in treatment, and the UV-blocking glasses you wear during the adjustment period.
For a full overview of accepted plans and payment arrangements, visit our financing and insurance page.
