Femtosecond platform provides precise capsulotomies

Chicago-A femtosecond laser platform (Victus, Bausch + Lomb/Technolas Perfect Vision) provides high-quality capsulotomies that are round, precise, and completely cut, and use of the system is associated with a short learning curve, said Soon-Phaik Chee, MD.

“The greatest surgical challenge in cataract surgery is creating a perfect centered capsulorhexis that is of the desired size to overlap the optic homogenously,” said Dr. Chee, of the Singapore Eye Centre.

Dr. Chee and her colleagues performed an observational study to evaluate the size and centration of the capsulotomy in nine eyes with an intended rhexis of 5 mm. After an IOL was implanted, she evaluated the circularity of the capsulorhexis created using the laser, the intended diameter versus the achieved diameter, and the centration of the capsulorhexis.

The circularity of the laser capsulorhexis was a mean of 0.996 compared with the intended value 1.0, which represents a perfect circle, she said. The capsulorhexis diameter was 4.968 versus the intended 5.0 for a perfect circle. She also noted that the centration was very accurate.

“The quality of the capsulotomy is always a concern,” Dr. Chee said. “In the study, the capsulotomies were round, precise, and completely cut. Most of the rhexes were also free-floating.

“I found the [femtosecond laser] system to be very easy to use and safe,” she added. “There was a short learning curve, considering that I am a cataract surgeon who never performed a refractive surgery.”

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