will fit nicely into the office setting."
The advent of lasers in cataract removal has made the procedure
safer and its results more reproducible, says Dr. Schuman, and in the
future, OCT-guided lasers will let physicians work closer to the pathol-
ogy with a reduced risk of damage. One thing lasers won't do, howev-
er, is eliminate phaco machines from the OR anytime soon.
"Most emulsification of the lens can be done with a femtosecond
laser," says Dr. Schuman. "But you will still need to remove the tissue
after doing laser softening," and aspiration is still a job for the phaco
handpiece, since an independent aspiration/irrigation tool doesn't cur-
rently exist.
While cataract surgery incisions have minimized to 1.8 mm, and may
someday become even smaller, lasers won't do away with those,
either. They'll always be needed for aspiration and intraocular lens
insertion.
"Laser can handle a big part of the procedure now," says Dr. Durrie.
"But give surgeons a choice of one or the other, and they'll say, 'I love
my laser, but I've got to have my phaco machine.'"
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