Below you will find a video of the laser assisted portion of cataract surgery. It takes about two minutes to perform this part of the procedure, with about thirty seconds of actual laser time. The first section of the video demonstrates how an eye appears under the laser microscope.
Now observe the planned superimposed treatment grid highlighted in color. You will then notice on the right side of the screen there are images. These are similar to a CT scan of the eye, and are created by on board advanced technology imaging system, which Dr. Moretsky and Dr. Cassidy uses to guide the laser. Here you see various cross sections of the lens and the cornea, with recommended software parameters of the system illustrated.
You will then observe tiny bubbles forming inside the eye as the first stage of the laser application proceeds, creating a round opening in the front surface of the cataract lens of the eye. This is referred to as the capsulotomy. This step eliminates the use of a hand held bent needle or forceps, used in standard cataract surgery.
Next note the central spiderweb pattern occurring, that is the actual softening of the cataract core, referred to as fragmentation. This is associated with additional bubbles. This step enables Dr. Moretsky and Dr. Cassidy to reduce or eliminate the standard ultrasonic energy typically used to complete the cataract lens removal.
The last step in the laser application, seen in the video involves the creation of the corneal incision with astigmatism control. This step eliminates the hand held surgical scalpel blade, used in standard cataract surgery.
The final stage of cataract surgery involves the separation of the incisions, the liquefaction of the cataract lens with final removal, and insertion of the intraocular lens implant.
By employing this advanced technology laser assisted method of cataract surgery, Dr. Moretsky and Dr. Cassidy can now perform some of the most precise parts of the cataract removal procedure with laser accuracy.
