Eyeworld

EW CATARACT 49 create a watertight wound closure," Dr. Dell said. "There are also impli- cations for possible drug delivery with pharmaceuticals that might be embedded in the product." He stressed, however, that such applica- tions are outside of the parameters of what was studied in the FDA trial. There can be drawbacks to the hydrogel bandage technology as well. "I think that any new technol- ogy like this is going to involve an added cost," Dr. Dell said. "We need to make sure that what we're deliv- ering is providing a meaningful ben- efit to the patient in terms of safety and efficacy for the added expense." He pointed out that practitioners or staff members have to mix up the product for use. "It's a combination of two reagents and those have to be mixed at the time of surgery, so that's an added task for a surgical as- sistant," he said. The hydrogel bandage is not yet FDA approved. However, if it should garner this approval, Dr. Dell offered a hint for best applying it. "We found that when applying the de- vice you need a lot less of the prod- uct than you think you do—a very small amount does the job," Dr. Dell said. "There was a tendency early in the learning curve to use much more than the patient needed." Dr. Dell hopes that practitioners come away from the study with a better understanding of what the hydrogel bandage may eventually have to offer. "The take-home mes- sage is that we're interested in im- proving patient comfort after cataract surgery," he said. "If we can come up with something that im- proves patient comfort, I think that there's a market for it." Going forward, Dr. Dell thinks that the hydrogel bandage technol- ogy may have other potential impli- cations for use inside the clinic. "A physician could place this product into the canaliculus of the eye and there could be delivery of a pharma- ceutical that would treat glaucoma or perhaps dry eye or other inflam- matory conditions," he said. "This could be an ongoing reservoir of drug delivery that could last for a long time." EW Editors' note: Dr. Dell has financial interests with Ocular Therapeutix. Contact information Dell: 512-327-7000, steven@dellmd.com Kim: 919-681-3568, kim00006@mc.duke.edu EyeWorld factoid By age 80, more than half of all Americans either have had a cataract or have had cataract surgery Source: Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear September 2011

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