Method and device for inserting an intraocular lens

An injector for inserting an intraocular lens into an eye, the injector comprising:

• a lumen, said lumen comprising a terminal portion at a distal end and a proximal portion juxtaposed with said terminal portion, the terminal portion including an outlet, said lumen further comprising an inner surface;
• and
• an injector plunger at least partially disposed within said lumen for generating a driving force on the intraocular lens, the driving force causing the intraocular lens to move within said lumen, the lens moving through said proximal portion before said terminal portion,
• wherein the injector comprises a lens coefficient of friction between said inner surface and the intraocular lens when the lens is moving through said lumen, said lens coefficient of friction associated with a lens frictional force that resists the driving force, and
• wherein said lens frictional force has a first value when the lens is at a first location within said proximal portion and a second value when the lens is at a second location within said terminal portion, the first location including a lubricious coating and the second location being free of the lubricious coating, such that the first value is smaller than the second value, said lens frictional force increasing abruptly from the first value to the second value as the lens approaches said distal end of said lumen.

An injector for inserting an intraocular lens into an eye, the injector comprising:

• a lumen, said lumen comprising a terminal portion at a distal end and a proximal portion juxtaposed with said terminal portion, said lumen further comprising an inner surface;
• and
• an injector plunger at least partially disposed within said lumen for generating a driving force on the intraocular lens, the driving force causing the intraocular lens to move within said lumen, the lens moving through said proximal portion before said terminal portion, said plunger comprising an abutting surface in facing relationship to said inner surface,
• wherein the injector comprises a plunger coefficient of friction between said inner surface and said abutting surface when the plunger is moving through said lumen, said plunger coefficient of friction associated with a plunger frictional force that resists the driving force;
• said plunger frictional force having a first value when the lens is at a first location within said proximal portion and a second value when the lens is at a second location within said terminal portion, the first value being smaller than the second value, and
• wherein said plunger coefficient of friction is provided at least in part by one or more lubricious coatings selectively covering said inner surface of said lumen at the first location and wherein the second location does not have the one or more lubricious coatings.