Cataracts can already operate automatically with femtosecond laser.

Granada, January 2012.- The femtosecond laser allows that the majority of the steps of cataract surgery are carried out automatically, without relying on the expertise of the surgeon, according to Dr. Laureano Álvarez-Rementería, which presented its results in the XLIV Congress of the society Andalusian of Ophthalmology (SAO). The femtosecond laser is the first step in cataract surgery since 1967, in which appeared ultrasonic phacoemulsification. In his view, “you’ll end up replacing her, it is safer and more efficient”.

XLIV Congress of the society met in Granada to some of the best ophthalmologists in Spain and other parts of the world. He presented progress in pathologies such as retinopathy, uveitis, glaucoma and presbyopia, among others. It began Thursday 19 and ended on Saturday.

Last November, the Current Opinion of Oftalmology magazine published a study which shows that cataract surgeons are adopting the technology of femtosecond ” to carry out all processes of the intervention, as performs these surgical steps with greater precision and reproducibility ”.

All the steps are in technique with ultrasonic Manual: corneal, cut incisions circular capsule that surrounds the waterfall, fragmentation of the lens to its extraction and the introduction of a lens, so results may vary ”, explains Dr. Álvarez – RementeríaShe has done with femtosecond laser cataract operations in Madrid. However, with this laser, much of the intervention is guided automatically and accurately by the computer in real time ”. It is reduced, thus the possibility that the lens is centered completely, as many people intercepted with the conventional technique, causing haloes or spots on the vision ”, confesses. Various studies to two to three years by the pioneer of this technique, Dr. Zoltan Nagy, of the Semmelweis University, Budapest, have shown that the focus of the lens is much more accurate with femtosecond laser and patients experience a remarkable improvement in visual acuity ”.

Another advantage of intervention with the new laser, according to Dr. Álvarez-Rementería, is that it is painless, of short duration (about 15-20 minutes) and much faster recovery than with the previous procedure: the patient goes home seeing blurry, visual recovery is not in days but in hours ”.

Femtosecond scanning laser lens on its surface and in its interior, through infrared waves, and millionth of a second, creates a bubble of air that separates the molecules of the lens without cutting or burning any tissue. Thus, it does not damage any adjacent cell.

Leading cause of blindness in the world

Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in the world. Affects half of those over 65 years but it’s a natural process, progressive opacity of the lens, which begins to manifest itself after 45-50 years, with the eye strain (presbyopia), and that just suffering around the world if live far enough ”, says Dr. Ignacio Vinuesa, President of the Andalusian society of ophthalmology. It is a common cause of costing well define the image of night and that glasses or contact lenses stop being useful.