Aberrometer introduced for wavefront-guided cataract surgery
Surgeons who specialize in refractive cataract surgery have a new tool to improve visual outcomes and decrease patients' needs for prescription eyewear after cataract surgery.
The device, called the ORange Intraoperative Wavefront Aberrometer, was introduced recently by WaveTec Vision (Aliso Viejo, Calif.). The name of the device alludes to the fact that it is designed for use in the operating room (OR) and has a very wide range of measuring capability (-5.00 to +20.00 D) making it ideal for use during cataract surgery after the eye's natural lens is removed.
How ORange differs from other wavefront aberrometers
According to WaveTec Vision, the ORange device is the first wavefront aberrometer designed specifically for use during cataract surgery.
The ORange device is comprised of an optical head that is attached directly to the surgical microscope and connected to a processor and touch-screen monitor. At any point during cataract surgery, the surgeon can capture a wavefront of the patients eye. The ORange processor then analyzes the captured data to calculate the refractive value of the eye.
When a wavefront is captured, a very narrow beam of light is directed into the patients eye and is reflected off the retina. As the reflected light passes back through the optical elements of the eye, it produces an aberrated wavefront.
Using a technology known as Talbot-Moir interferometry, ORange aberrometer analyzes the wavefront through a proprietary process to produce the refractive value of the eye, which enables the surgeon to then choose the proper intraocular lens (IOL) power and position the IOL for best results.
Two defining characteristics of the ORange aberrometer are its compact size and its ability to measure a very wide dynamic range of refractive powers. It is capable of measurements from -5.00 to +20.00 diopters (D). This is important because the typical human eye has a mean refractive power of +13.00 D, but may be as high as +20.00 D, after the natural lens is removed during cataract surgery.
Aberrometers used in wavefront-guided LASIK (also called custom LASIK), on the other hand, are too large to be used in an operating room during cataract surgery and have a measurement range (typically -10.00 to +8.00 D) that is too limited for use in cataract surgery.
ORange aberrometers installed for wavefront-guided cataract surgery
WaveTec Vision commercially launched the ORange Intraoperative Wavefront Aberrometer at the 2009 Symposium and Congress of the American Society of cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) held April 3-8 in San Francisco.
The aberrometer is currently installed in 10 cataract surgery sites nationwide and the company anticipates additional U.S. installations this year.
SOURCES:
1. "New intraoperative wavefront aberrometer debuts." Ophthalmology Times. Meeting E-News - April 6, 2009.
2. WaveTec Vision website (wavetecvision.com) Accessed April 22, 2009.
Last updated: February 2010
