Laser Cataract Surgery More Accurate Than Manual

Laser Cataract Surgery More Accurate Than Manual.
Cataract surgery, already an darned non-poisonous and successful procedure, can be made more precise by combining a laser and three-dimensional imaging, a untrodden study suggests. Researchers found that a femtosecond laser, used for many years in LASIK surgery, can edit into delicate eye tissue more cleanly and accurately than manual cataract surgery, which is performed more than 1,5 million times each year in the United States. In the in touch procedure, which has a 98 percent good rate, surgeons use a micro-blade to cut a circle around the cornea before extracting the cataract with an ultrasound machine.

The laser system uses optical coherence technology to customize each patient's orb measurements before slicing through the lens capsule and cataract, though ultrasound is still used to remove the cataract itself. "It takes some artistry and energy to break the lens with the ultrasound," explained induce researcher Daniel Palanker, an associate professor of ophthalmology at Stanford University. "The laser helps to bowl along this up and make it safer".

After practicing the laser procedure on pig eyes and donated benignant eyes, Palanker and his colleagues did further experiments to confirm that the high-powered, rapid-pulse laser would not cause retinal damage. Actual surgeries later performed on 50 patients between the ages of 55 and 80 showed that the laser adulterate circles in lens capsules 12 times more demanding than those achieved by the customary method. No adverse effects were reported.

The study, reported in the Nov 17, 2010 issuance of Science Translational Medicine, was funded by OpticaMedica Corp of Santa Clara, Calif, in which Palanker has an tolerance stake. The results are being reviewed by the US Food and Drug Administration, while the laser technology, which is being developed by several confidential companies, is expected to be released worldwide in 2011.

Dr Scott Greenstein, a encyclopedic ophthalmology and cataracts expert at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, said he was uneasy that the into or was funded by a company with a stake in the outcome. But he added that the data was encouraging. "I on one's own am excited by it," said Greenstein, who teaches ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. "It's an enhancement of something we're already doing that's unequivocally successful. We have need of a number of centers studying this with more patients. It would be useful to see if there is a significant statistical difference in the outcomes".

Both Greenstein and Dr Richard Bensinger, a Seattle ophthalmologist and spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, expressed interest that the laser-guided cataract surgery would be much more valuable than manual surgery and were skeptical that strength insurance companies would be willing to pick up the tab. "It's a fairly expensive way to do something we do fact now with a $120 instrument that makes the opening. It's beneficial to the extent that it can avoid a scuttle in the cornea - but the downside is you need a very expensive machine to do it. It's at best a little purifying that adds a little precision".

Although the femtosecond laser technique is unquestionably more precise, Palanker's maintain that it results in a better fit for the artificial lens replacing the clouded one is dubious, Bensinger and Greenstein said. Experienced surgeons performing instructions cataract surgery rarely have trouble aligning the different lens with the pupil and keeping it in place.

So "Over the thousands of cases I've done, I'm at the end of the day not aware personally of this being a problem. If you have a less precise, experienced surgeon then this would be a benefit for the patient. It makes reproducible, best incisions every time". Palanker said further research will pinpoint on whether laser-guided cataract surgery results in better postoperative vision than traditional surgery vitoviga. Among the teeny group of study participants there was no significant difference in outcomes between the two.