Benefits of Wavefront Tech in Practice

[AdminWolf]

This is neat -- site sponsor Marco asked us to post up a roundtable that they had at AAOphth / New Orleans about wavefront tech. Even though it is with ophthalmologists, they thought you guys would be interested as well, since it is in your wheelhouse. So here it is!


The Power Forum III
During the 2017 American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in New Orleans, Marco recorded a live event: the Power Forum III. A panel of 5 Ophthalmologists addressed multiple diagnostic, surgical, and patient-based benefits derived from wavefront technology.

The full 40-minute program was segmented into seven, 4-5 minute parts, releasing weekly beginning March 28, 2018.

Q1: How does data from Angles Alpha & Kappa, Corneal SA, Coma, pupil size, and Corneal vs. Lenticular Astigmatism improve your premium IOL selections and outcomes?

See more of the Power Forum III at: www.marco.com/power-forum/

 

[Greg Gemoules]

Ironic that you said this is in our wheelhouse.

This last week I had a consult with a patient from Australia who had visual complications stemming from his past surgeries, i.e. clear lens replacement for myopia and subsequent LASIK after that. Having a wavefront aberrometer allowed me to isolate the source of his problem - i.e. the lens implant, and why. It also enabled me to select the right lens for him to wear. I think with all of these surgical refractive technologies, we may be called upon more and more to diagnose complications as well as guide the patient in the right direction.

Indeed, this is in my wheelhouse, and I am the pilot.

 

[Charles A McBride]

Ironic that you said this is in our wheelhouse.

This last week I had a consult with a patient from Australia who had visual complications stemming from his past surgeries, i.e. clear lens replacement for myopia and subsequent LASIK after that. Having a wavefront aberrometer allowed me to isolate the source of his problem - i.e. the lens implant, and why. It also enabled me to select the right lens for him to wear. I think with all of these surgical refractive technologies, we may be called upon more and more to diagnose complications as well as guide the patient in the right direction.

Indeed, this is in my wheelhouse, and I am the pilot.

I've been using the iZon aberrometer as needed and have found it helpful but lacking. What would you list as the top three or four aberrometers on the market today? -Charlie

 

[Greg Gemoules]

I've been using the iZon aberrometer as needed and have found it helpful but lacking. What would you list as the top three or four aberrometers on the market today? -Charlie

It's very lacking. I don't have much experience with other aberrometers, only the iTrace, which I purchased in 2006 on the high recommendation by someone who was doing a lot of LASIK fix-ups. I have had a conversation with someone in the research end who admitted that they found some patients to be unmeasurable using their bench aberrometer. Before I made my purchase, I would actually send patients to UT Southwestern Medical Center to be scanned by one of their in-house machines, and sure enough, some of my patients were unscannable. Thankfully I have not had that problem with the iTrace because of its robust and high dynamic range ray-tracing technology. Also, I love their analytical tools as well.

I know that the Marco is another instrument available to optometrists and is probably very competitive with the iTrace. They use a completely different engine, I believe. The others are pretty much sold to integrate with the excimer laser suites, and may not be available to optometrists. I am particularly interested in the formerly Abbot iDesign Wavescan Studio that uses Fourier based algorithms, but again I cannot get anybody to call me back. Unfortunately I have to travel all the way to Vienna to attend ESCRS in September in order to get my hand on this technology and others that optometrists will never see unless they are employed by OMDs. There is also a certain anterior segment OCT I am anxious to see that is not yet approved by the FDA.

If you do a search you can find some published comparisons between the various aberrometers. Read them all is my recommendation.