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New phaco tip design allows more efficient chopping, safer surgical maneuvers
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AMSTERDAM — A new phaco tip allows safe ultrasound delivery, facilitates chopping maneuvers and promises to be an ideal complement to femtosecond cataract surgery, according to one speaker.
“With regular tips when we chop the nucleus, we don’t have enough counterpressure from below and this limits the efficiency of our maneuvers,” César Carriazo, MD, said at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting here.
César Carriazo
The new tip-chop, developed by Carriazo, has a scoop-shaped protrusion which adds force to the chopper when it is embedded in the nucleus.
“We can chop more efficiently, because the scoop-shaped tip lifts and supports the nucleus, exerting a conterpressure on the chopper. We do aspiration at the same time and can work safely at the center of the cornea rather than do phaco in the periphery,” Carriazo said.
The tip-chop allows for safer and more relaxed surgery, he said. It requires only a short learning curve and is easily adapted to all techniques. According to Carriazo, it can be used also in difficult cases of hard cataract and will be an ideal phaco tip for nucleus separation in femtosecond cataract surgery.
Disclosure: Carriazo holds the patent of the instrument mentioned.