The hottest buzz at the recent Academy of Ophthalmology meeting (AAO) was the unveiling of Laser assisted cataract surgery. I bet most of you thought it was already done with a laser. Actually current state of the art cataract surgery is done with ultrasound. A technique called phacoemulsification or phaco for short. With the current operation the surgeon manually creates the incision, opens the capsule and then uses the ultrasound to break up and remove the cataract before placing an implant lens.
The laser procedure uses a femtosecond laser, the same laser used to create a flap in LASIK surgery. This laser is capable of making precise incisions into the cornea that are exact every time. The laser will then make an opening in the capsule to a desired size. Lastly the laser energy is directed into the cataract itself to break it's bonds. The only manual parts are the aspiration of the softened cataract and the placement of the implant lens.
The excitement of this new procedure is tempered only by the question of additional cost and who will bear this cost. If current trends continue it will not be covered by insurance and the patient will need to decide if it worth the extra cost.
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