Intraocular lens and manipulating tool therefor

Claim 1

In combination, a manipulable tool for substantially flat shipping support for an intraocular lens-and-mount assembly wherein a lens having a circular periphery is circumferentially retained, the mount of said assembly including flexibly compliant apertured iris-stabilizing feet projecting radially outward of plural angularly spaced regions of the lens-retaining circumference of said assembly, said tool comprising a generally hook-shaped end and a shank end integrally connected and with substantially constant cross-section, the apertures of said feet being of open section to clear said substantially constant cross-section and being assembled in circumferential succession to said tool, the span of said hook-shaped end being such as to accommodate assembly to all said feet at angularly spaced locations with the lens of said mount assembly centrally positioned within said hook-shaped end and with said feet in essentially flat unstressed condition, for generally central stabilized retention of the lens during storage and/or shipment, the effective compliantly achievable length of said feet exceeding the radius of circumferential retention of the lens, whereby upon lifting said tool, said lens and the circumferentially retaining portion of said mount become compliantly suspended beneath said hook-shaped end and said feet may be manipulated into clustered relation at the shank end of said tool, for cluster-grouped insertion of said feet into an excavated lens sac in the course of posterior-chamber implantation of the lens, so that said tool may be withdrawn to release said feet within the sac for compliant stabilizing conformance with sac inner-wall contouring to retain the lens anterior to said feet and in the posterior chamber.