A new system for femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery developed at Stanford University School of Medicine uses a new approach to make the procedure less dependent on surgical skill and allow for greater consistency.
With the new system, a laser can pass through the outer tissue - without having to open the eye - to cut the hole in the capsule and to slice up the cataract and lens, all of which occurs just before the patient enters the operating suite. The laser also creates a multiplanar incision through the cornea that stops just below the outermost surface, which means that the surgeon needs to cut less once the operation begins, as well as decreasing the risk of infection. Because of the laser work, once the operation is under way, the removal of the cut section of the capsule and the sliced-up lens can be done relatively easily, with much less need for ultrasound energy.
The laser needs to be guided as it makes its incisions to meet exacting specifications for the size of the disc-shaped hole in the lens capsule that it would be creating. The researchers used optical coherence tomography - a noncontact, noninvasive in vivo imaging technique - to get three-dimensional map of the eye. Then, using that image, they developed software that pinpointed the ideal pattern for the laser to follow.
