12
doc • Spring 2014
Kentucky
Lexington
Ophthalmologist
Takes the Lead in Laser
Treatment for Cataract
By Martha Evans Sparks, Staff Writer
Dr. Lance S. Ferguson, ophthalmologist
associated with Commonwealth Eyes,
Lexington, is the first in central Kentucky
to offer patients Catalys Precision Laser
System surgery for the removal of cataracts.
“Enhanced safety and accuracy are the forte
of this technology,” said Dr. Ferguson.
He should know. Dr. Ferguson, who is the
current president of the American College
of Eye Surgeons, estimates he has performed
48,000 cataract surgeries in his career.
Cataract, the clouding or discoloration of
the lens of the eye, happens to everybody if
we live long enough. If untreated, the lens
finally becomes opaque causing blindness.
The normal lens sits in a delicate enclosure
called the capsule toward the front of the
eyeball. Its function is to help focus images
on the retina at the back of our eyes enabling
us to see things clearly. Since recorded history began, people have been looking for ways
to get the clouded lens
out of the field of vision.
Use of lasers is one of the
latest of many improvements in treatment that
have occurred over the
centuries.
Dr. Ferguson has used
Catalys laser for cataract
removal for about one
year. He says that the
features of Catalys that
assist him most as an eye
surgeon are allowing him
to create a precise incision
and to soften the center
of the cataract facilitating
its removal. This results
in less trauma to the eye.
The surgeon replaces the
cloudy natural lens with
an implantable intraocular
lens (IOL) made of plastic.
Commonwealth Eye’s
website points out that
every eye has a unique size
and shape. The Catalys
has the capability of creating a 3-dimensional map
of each eye. This enables
Dr. Ferguson to construct
a customized treatment
Dr. Ferguson
plan that matches that uniqueness. He says
that with the 3D imaging and the laser’s
ability to cut a fine line in close quarters,
“Capsulotomy [the incision into the capsule
to remove the cataract] is perfectly centered
and sized, ensuring accurate positioning of
the implant within the eye. Arcuate [in the
shape of an arc] incisions to reduce astigmatism are far more accurate.”
Accurate positioning of the implant within
the eye is particularly important if he is
implanting high-tech IOLs made to correct near vision or toric IOLs to correct
astigmatism. These IOLs must be precisely
positioned to maximize their effectiveness.
An appropriately-sized removal of the natural lens “anchors the implant and helps to
prevent rotation, which negates the effect of
a toric IOL,” Dr. Ferguson says, adding that
“consistency in capsulorrhexis [a technique
used to remove part of the lens capsule during cataract surgery] creates a consistent
ELP—effective lens position—enhancing
the overall accuracy of the refractive result,
and providing less dependency on spectacles
post-operatively.”
The Catalys laser Dr. Ferguson uses in cataract removal is a near-infrared femtosecond
laser, that is, one capable of emitting pulses
of light lasting a femtosecond. A femtosecond (symbol, fs) is a unit of time under the
International System of Units equal to 10-15
second. For comparison, a femtosecond is to
a second as one full second is to 31.7 million
years. The short pulse time decreases the
energy needed to achieve a given effect, an
important consideration in cataract surgery.
The laser can be focused precisely within
the eye. The Catalys was developed by
OptiMedica Corporation, a Silicon Valley,
California, company that recently became a
subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories.
LASER is an acronym standing for “Light
Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation.” Laser light differs from other