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Industry leader: Watch for ‘logical moves’ in career path
An expert in senior health care said sometimes challenges can lead to breakthroughs. Also several products were launched at ASCRS.
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Image: Stiglich JM, OSN |
WASHINGTON — Life’s challenges can lead to forward-thinking ideas, said Nina Mazzo, a leader and expert in the fields of senior health care and senior housing.
“Life will always give you choices of how you should overcome a challenge. You take the choices and challenges and put them in daily context,” Ms. Mazzo told attendees at a reception for the Ophthalmic Women Leaders (OWL), held during the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.
Ms. Mazzo is the sister of James V. Mazzo, the president and chief executive officer of Advanced Medical Optics, who also serves on the OWL advisory board.
Ms. Mazzo explained that she entered her area of specialty as a result of a challenge she experienced early in her career.
She said she began her career as a stockbroker at a time when the field was dominated by men. In an effort to build her client base, she often agreed to take “problem” clients from colleagues. As it happened, she explained, these “problem” clients were often women and senior citizens.
From that point she began to focus her efforts on these two groups, and so she began to be known as an expert in that area.
“Watch for logical moves in your career paths,” Ms. Mazzo advised.
Alcon AcrySof ReStor
Alcon announced the launch of its AcrySof ReStor apodized diffractive IOL at a press conference during the ASCRS meeting.
The ReStor, built on the familiar AcrySof platform, combines three technologies — refraction, diffraction and apodization — to provide patients with both near and distance vision, said Stuart Raetzman, Alcon’s vice president of sales and marketing for the surgical cataract group. He explained that the lens is designed with a central 3.6-mm zone that divides light between near and distance. Outside the central zone, the ReStor acts like a conventional monofocal refractive IOL providing distance vision. Inside the zone, the technologies of diffraction and apodization work together to provide a blend of distance and near, he said.
The unfamiliar term “apodization” refers to a minuscule gradation in the height of the diffractive steps in the central zone, which causes more light energy to be focused toward distance at the periphery of the zone, Mr. Raetzman explained.
Alcon officials said the IOL will have a “controlled launch,” meaning not all surgeons will immediately have access to it. Some surgeons were trained in the use of the lens in April, more training is planned, and this month the company will begin to release the lens to those who have been trained.
B&L IOL delivery system
Bausch & Lomb introduced its SofPort Easy-Load Lens Delivery System at the meeting. B&L officials said the lens delivery system includes the B&L SofPort Advanced Optics (AO) IOL pre-loaded in a lens retainer and the inserter.
According to B&L literature, “the Easy-Load system allows surgeons to load the lens into the inserter without touching or aligning the IOL with forceps, which virtually eliminates mishandling and damage to the lens for more predictable, reliable results.”
B&L said that the system is the “first and only” integrated, single-use, single-handed, planar-delivery IOL insertion system that allows IOL insertion through an incision of less than 3 mm, allowing less invasive surgery and improved recovery times.
Glaucoma treatment system
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Image: Stiglich JM, OSN |
Solx Inc. introduced a two-part glaucoma treatment system to attendees of the meeting. The DeepLight Glaucoma Treatment System consists of a titanium-sapphire 790-nm laser and a photo-titratable gold shunt. Each component can be used alone or in combination, giving the glaucoma surgeon a wide range of options for achieving each patient’s optimal IOP, according to Solx.
The non-thermal laser can be used on its own to perform laser trabeculoplasty. The laser is approved for use in Europe and Canada and is now undergoing FDA clinical trials in the United States, said Doug Adams, the president and CEO of Solx. The gold shunt, which is implanted to drain fluid from the anterior chamber into the suprachoroidal space, can also be used on its own, or it can be photo-titrated with the TiSa laser to allow more or less aqueous drainage. The shunt is expected to receive the European CE Mark this summer, Mr. Adams said.
Three-year clinical data from trials using the TiSa laser should be published this year, Mr. Adams said. He said results indicate that laser trabeculoplasty with his company’s laser results in up to 20% more IOP lowering than argon laser trabeculoplasty.
FDA trials of the shunt are expected to begin this summer, with the Solx gold shunt randomized against a commercially available drainage device, he said.
Surgery simulator
Oculus Inc. introduced a new ophthalmic surgery computer simulator, the EyeSI from VR Magic of Mannheim, Germany.
During simulated surgery with the EyeSI, the surgeon operates with instruments that feel and function like real surgical instruments, according to the company.
The EyeSI is organized by software modules. Each module (vitrectomy, phaco) offers a detailed performance evaluation and a playback feature to assist the instructor during the training session. The EyeSI can be tailored to individual training requirements, and a course editor allows the instructor to establish a curriculum that meets student needs. Also, students’ performance can be tracked over time and compared with the skill levels of other students.
Vitrectomy modules include forceps training, tremor training, vitrector training, epiretinal membrane module, internal limiting membrane module and posterior hyaloid module. Cataract modules include capsulorrhexis training module, hydrodissection module, phaco module and lens implantation module.
Nidek YAG, photocoagulator
Nidek introduced its YC-1800 Ophthalmic YAG laser system at the meeting and also announced that its MC-300 Multicolor Laser Photocoagulator system had received marketing clearance.
According to Nidek literature, the YC-1800 YAG “combines advanced application features, laser setting parameters and a unique design” for the ophthalmic surgeon. Nidek noted that this is the fifth generation Nd:YAG laser the company has introduced in the United States.
The MC-300 photocoagulator is an “advanced multicolor (red, yellow and green) diode-pumped solid-state laser system,” according to Nidek. It offers three laser wavelengths – 659 nm, 561 nm and 532 nm – “ideal for retinal applications, disease treatments and management,” according to the company. The multicolor laser features digitally controlled instant duty cycles and can be mounted for slit-lamp delivery. The laser is already on the market in Europe and Asia, the company noted.