Russian scientists have developed a new method for cataract surgery, where a laser is used to both destroy the clouded eye lens and stimulate the regeneration of adjacent tissue.
Developed by a team of scientists from ITMO University and Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Complex, the new process reduces the traumatising effects of cataract surgery by using a balance of destroying and illuminating lasers simultaneously.
"The simultaneous use of two lasers is good because we get cells that are damaged but not destroyed," said Professor Andrey Belikov from ITMO’s School of Photonics. "It's very important to stimulate their regeneration at once (so) the regeneration process takes place in the most favourable conditions."
Almost all Fyodorov’s cataract surgeries are now performed using two lasers. It has been clinically proven to reduce the loss of corneal endothelial cells by 1.8 times compared with ultrasonic phacoemulsification. There have been no reports of macular oedema or endothelial-epithelial, said Prof Belikov.
