Eyeworld

142 EW SECONDARY FEATURE by Liz Hillman EyeWorld Staff Writer Phaco fine-tuned through collaboration with industry Phaco turns 50 • April 2017 Then: Cavitron (acquired by CooperVision; later acquired by Alcon) launched the Model 7007 phaco system in 1972 (top). Now: Alcon launched its Centurion Vision System (bottom) in 2013. Source: Alcon Alcon Charles D. Kelman, MD, first worked with Cavitron to develop the first phacoemulsification machine based on ultrasound technology he initially observed while at the dentist. Cavitron, which was acquired by Coopervi- sion in 1983 and later Alcon in 1989, helped Dr. Kelman create the Model 7001 in 1970. By 1972, a number of improvements were made to the system, including a drastic reduction in size, according to Mikhail Boukhny, PhD, head of surgical instrumentation, R&D, Alcon, and Douglas Fanney, PE, MBA, director of R&D, Global Medical Affairs, Alcon. In the de- cades that followed, there were a number of other iterations, and by 1993, Alcon introduced the Series 20,000 Legacy, the first phaco unit with multiple microprocessors and a rotatable, flat, touch-sen- sitive LCD screen. The Legacy unit would go through numerous software and hardware upgrades through 2005 to improve vacuum, flow, and ultrasound power. Then in 2003, Alcon intro- duced the Infiniti Vision System, which offered improved fluidics and a lighter handpiece. Two years later came OZil technology, which provided side-to-side motion to reduce repulsion. When used with the Kelman tip, incision thermal stress was also reduced. In 2013, Alcon introduced its latest Centurion Vision System with Active Fluidics. "The Centurion Vision Sys- tem offers surgeons the next-gen- eration phaco platform that enables them to optimize every step of the cataract surgery, and ultimately, help deliver exception- al patient outcomes," Mr. Fanney said. "Together with 50 years of phaco, this year Alcon celebrates its 70th anniversary. Seventy years of innovation and partnership with practitioners who connect us with patients and have been our partners in reimagining eyecare," said Dr. Boukhny. Doctors worked closely with industry over the decades to refine phacoemulsification technology "W e couldn't do it without them," Leonard Borr- mann, Pharm.D., head of research and devel- opment, Johnson & Johnson Vision (J&J Vision, Santa Ana, California) said of the doctors who help develop and optimize the tools and technology with industry that will ultimately be used to best serve the patient. Phacoemulsification, dating back to 1967, is no exception. "While other technologies have tried to be developed—from using forced liquid to break up a cataract to lasers—it still comes back to Dr. Kelman's original technology … but it doesn't look at all like my father's old Chevy anymore," Dr. Borrmann quipped. Three of the main manufacturers of phaco units—J&J Vision (for- merly Abbott Medical Optics [AMO], Abbott Park, Illinois), Alcon (Fort Worth, Texas), and Bausch + Lomb (B + L, Bridgewater, New Jersey)— spoke with EyeWorld about their evolution in phacoemulsification cataract surgery.

• Blank Page
• Blank Page (1)