Part 2: Looking back at 50 years of innovation in ophthalmology

In celebration of Ophthalmology Times' 50th anniversary, we asked leading experts in the field what they see as the biggest innovation in ophthalmology in the past 5 decades.

Video Transcript:

Editor's note: The below transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

John Tan:

A lot has changed in 50 years, for sure. I think the first thing that comes to my mind is imaging. There's so much more imaging, point of care imaging, that can be done so quickly. It helps us see so much more detail into what may be going on. It helps us identify these diseases, and the progression is much more quickly, rather than doing a fundus exam, and it allows us to do more research as well, to study these diseases at the nerve and molecular level and develop treatments that are more effective for patients as well.

Jennifer Lim, MD:

Over the last 50 years, there have just been so many surgical advancements that have helped repair retinal detachments that previously we weren't able to repair. For instance, we now have the use of perfluorooctane, which is PFO, which can help stabilize the eye while we're operating. We have very small gage surgery, which also decreases the risk of complications. And we have very great instrumentation that cuts at very high rates, so that we can achieve the results that we've achieved. And then secondarily, in the area of medical retina, there have been major innovations. I mean, 50 years ago, we were basically burning the retina, and now we have anti-VEGF therapies that can prevent damage to an eye. These too are very useful in patients with sickle cell retinopathy, we're finding.

Carl Danzig, MD:

As a retina specialist, this is super low hanging fruit, okay? What has changed in the last 50 years? We had 2 things that came out together. You had new technology and a new treatment modality. You had an OCT that looked at the histology, essentially histology slide right you had, you were able to look at pathology without being invasive for the retina. On top of that, you had a drug that came out to treat wet AMD, DME, and Macular DME from RVO at the same time. So you had a drug that treated a condition that you could use new diagnostic technology to determine efficacy and durability. Therefore, those 2 things together have changed the way we manage patients. It has revolutionized the way patients outcomes have been measured and moving forward that technology is only getting better. We have newer and newer medications to treat wet, AMD, DME, RVO, diabetic retinopathy, whether with eye drops, injections, gene therapy, and we are moving forward at lightning speed.