EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/87458
February 2011 October 2012 EW REFRACTIVE SURGERY 35 concept and will pay for it." He's bullish on this, too, as multiple manufacturers received regulatory approvals within the first year, and "more may be coming." "Just like when femto for LASIK was introduced, in this arena, if you're not first with the femtosec- ond for refractive cataract, you're last," Mr. Stubenbordt said, adding most patients thought cataract surgery was already done with only lasers. Surgeons with the femtosec- ond refractive cataract lasers are see- ing "dramatically increased" referrals from optometrists—close to a 50- 60% increase, he said. Dr. Roberts said most surgeons are looking for boxes that are capable of multiple uses; Bausch + Lomb's two largest markets are Europe and the U.S., with more business generated outside the U.S. "For us, we see the big growth in the U.S. driven by the demand for cataract surgery by baby boomers," he said. "When femto first came out, there was some hesitation that it was going to slow the physicians down and decrease efficiency compared to regular cataract surgery, but we haven't seen that." Mr. Mahdavi believes consumers will pay more for perceived benefits, and physicians just need to become better skilled at packaging and pro- motion. "Phaco is going to continue to evolve in the years to come," Mr. Raetzman said. Because the two procedures work synergistically, he expects femto use in cataract surgery to increase as well, but doesn't limit the growth to just cataract. "Femtosecond refractive surgery will evolve further over the next 5 years and be even more broadly available around the world," Mr. Raetzman said. Mr. Ziemer said his company followed the LenSx/Alcon introduc- tions and announced at this past ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Con- gress its own entry into the market. "We have to be a part of this mar- ket," he said. "It's a very interesting future for femto right now." Dr. Roberts credits femto for helping cataract surgeons become bolder in recommending premium IOLs—"we're seeing faster growth with this technology in cataract uses than we did in refractive," he said. EW Editors' note: Mr. Raetzman, Mr. Ziemer, and Dr. Roberts have financial interests with their respective compa- nies. Mr. Mahdavi and Mr. Stubenbordt have financial interests with laser manufacturers. Contact information Mahdavi: 925-425-9900, shareef@sm2strategic.com Raetzman: Melissa.Mota@alconlabs.com Roberts: 585-338-6633, Cal.roberts@bausch.com Stubenbordt: 682-831-0900, paul@refractiveconsulting.com Ziemer: +41 32 332 70 10, Frank.Ziemer@ziemergroup.com