EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/1500809
30 | EYEWORLD | JULY 2023 ASCRS NEWS by Liz Hillman Editorial Co-Director About the physicians Sergio Canabrava, MD Clinical Coordinator and Director Med Aula Belo Horizonte, Brazil Forrest Ellis, MD Northern Virginia Ophthalmology Associates Founder/CEO JelliSee Ophthalmics Fairfax, Virginia Richard Lewis, MD Sacramento Eye Consultants Sacramento, California William Link, PhD Managing Partner Flying L Partners Co-Founder Versant Ventures Newport Beach, California Mark Lobanoff, MD OVO LASIK + Lens Founder/CEO Phorcides Minneapolis, Minnesota Elizabeth Yeu, MD Virginia Eye Consultants Norfolk, Virginia patients, providers, investors, entrepreneurs, and strategic leaders—is receptive to innovation in ophthalmology. The ecosystem for innovation is well-estab- lished in this area of medicine, Dr. Link contin- ued, noting that he's been involved in ophthal- mic innovation for 4 decades. He served as the president and founder of American Medical Optics beginning in 1978; this company was then sold to Allergan in 1986, spun out as Advanced Medical Optics in 2002, was acquired by Abbott in 2009, then was acquired by John- son & Johnson Vision in 2017. He was the CEO and founder of Chiron Vision in 1988, which was later sold to Bausch + Lomb in 1998. He also led one of the first venture capital firms with a strong focus on ophthalmology, Versant Ventures, and founded Flying L partners in 2016. Dr. Link has founded or invested in 28 Innovators' presentations and main lecture at the ASCRS Annual Meeting M onday on the Main Stage at the 2023 ASCRS Annual Meeting fea- tured the Charles D. Kelman, MD, Innovator's Lecture, delivered by William Link, PhD, and several oth- er presentations that focused on either recent or up-and-coming innovations. Innovator's Lecture "What an honor to have the opportunity to receive this award," Dr. Link said. "Charles Kelman had a real impact on my life. I learned a lot from him." Innovation is special in the field of ophthal- mology, Dr. Link said. Vision is valued, and even with decades of innovation and commitment, worldwide there are still immense unmet needs. Innovation has been rewarded in the field of ophthalmology, which is precious because, as Dr. Link said, "resources come to areas where they're rewarded." The market— long way. There are medications, devices, and different ways of applying medications. There is also a huge pipeline, and industry is forging a path to dry eye treatments, he added. The reason diagnostics are important is there are many dry eye patients, the majority of who may be undiagnosed. Daniel Chang, MD, gave the refractive presentation in the session, discussing presby- opia correction. At one time, IOLs were sim- ple, he said, and the only thing that mattered was visual quality. Then we wanted to correct presbyopia, so we wanted visual quality but also to improve depth of field. When you increase depth of field, you potentially reduce visual quality and increase dysphotopsia, he said. Dr. Chang discussed some of the many lens options through the years, but his main focus was the confusing nomenclature that has devel- oped around naming the lenses and what they do. Because of the difficulty of saying and writ- ing "presbyopia-correcting IOLs," many use "PC IOLs," "multifocal IOLs," and "premium IOLs" instead. This ambiguous nomenclature confuses surgeons and patients and has led to a jumble of marketing-driven terminology, he said. Can there be a better naming scheme? Dr. Chang said there are several contributing factors to a good name. One is a technical component, which is related to the mechanism of action and the depth of focus characteristics. Second is a regulatory component, which is country/region specific. Third is a marketing component, which can drive surgeon accep- tance and understanding and patient percep- tion. Of all these factors, what matters most to patients is the depth of focus characteristics, Dr. Chang said, because this correlates directly with their expected functional abilities. He suggested adopting the term "range of vision IOL" as a descriptive category. The term is broad yet specific, easy to say and write, and even patients can understand the concept. This term could be further expanded to include extended range of vision and full range of vision IOLs, depending on the expected depth of focus characteristics. continued from page 29 continued on page 32