Cataract surgery diagnostics spotlight continues to shine on integration with surgical technologies

Reviewed by Samuel Masket, MD, and Mark Packer, MD

The trend for advances in intraoperative imaging systems and linking of diagnostic and surgical technology continued in 2015, bringing cataract surgeons more opportunity for increasing workflow efficiency and improving patient outcomes.

Much of this innovation has involved automation of femtosecond laser applications, and it is these developments that will confer real advantages for the femtosecond laser systems, according to Mark Packer, MD.

“Until now, use of the femtosecond laser has brought only incremental advantages to cataract surgery,” said Dr. Packer, clinical associate professor of ophthalmology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland. “By lessening the amount of ultrasound energy needed for lens removal, femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) may allow for quicker visual recovery.

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In addition, final visual outcomes may be a little bit better with FLACS than conventional phaco, and safety wise, there may be some advantage for FLACS, depending on the individual surgeon’s skills, he noted.

“However, in each of those areas, the difference compared to standard phacoemulsification is small, and overall, it is hard to say that FLACS is significantly better than standard phacoemulsification in terms of effectiveness and safety outcomes,” Dr. Packer said.

“Now, however, I think that FLACS is really beginning to shine because of the integration of preoperative and intraoperative diagnostic technology that allows for image-guided automated surgery,” Dr. Packer said. “These developments translate into huge time savings in terms of surgical planning, and they can improve outcomes by increasing treatment accuracy and eliminating the potential for errors that can occur with manual data entry.”

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