The dream of laser cataract surgery is finally here. The first commercial laser was delivered to a doctor in Texas this month. The first real cases should be done shortly. The laser will allow the surgeon to perform 80% of the surgery with the precision of the laser. There are 3 companies competing in the market. LenSx with Alcon, LensAr, and Optimedica. So far LenSx has the early lead with FDA approval. It's still too early to tell who has the best platform. We have learned with other technologies that the first to market isn't always the best. Many doctors feel this could revolutionize cataract surgery the way phacoemulsification did in the 1970s.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Astigmatism Explained
Astigmatism means that your eye is not a perfect sphere but oval shaped like a football. When light enters an eye with astigmatism it is focused irregularly. Astigmatism can be corrected in many ways.
1) Glasses- Spectacle lenses are ground with a cylindrical correction to compensate for the irregular curve in the eye.
2) Contact lenses- Rigid contact lenses rest on the front surface of the eye to provide a new regular surface. Soft toric contacts have astigmatism correction within the lens.
3) Laser vision correction- Lasik surgery will reshape the front surface to correct astigmatism as well as nearsightedness or farsightedness.
4) Cataract surgery- During cataract surgery a toric implant will correct astigmatism. Relaxing incisions in the cornea similar to RK will reshape the cornea to reduce astigmatism.
Astigmatism is usually something we are born with but may shift over time. Sometimes it is caused by corneal disease or trauma. Thankfully there are many ways to treat it.
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