OptiMedica Corp. last week announced the results of a clinical study of its Catalys Precision Laser System showing that, when compared to manual techniques, the Catalys Precision Laser System helped surgeons achieve significant improvement in precision during several critical steps of cataract surgery.

Catalys is designed to perform four incisions: capsulotomy (a circular incision in the lens capsule), lens fragmentation (segmenting and softening of the lens to prepare for removal), relaxing incisions (cuts to correct astigmatism), and cataract incisions (cuts to allow insertion of the surgical tools). Results of the clinical study, which compared 29 laser-treated eyes with 30 manually treated eyes, showed great improvement across these steps:

• A 12-fold improvement in precision of sizing the capsulotomy with Catalys, as compared to the manual technique, and a five-fold improvement in the precision of the capsulotomy shape. These findings are significant, as capsulotomy shape and size are known to have a critical impact on refractive outcomes.
• A more than two-fold improvement in capsulotomy strength. This has the potential to make the procedure safer by reducing the potential for lens capsule rupture.
• A 40 percent reduction in the use of ultrasound energy (Cumulative Dispersed Energy) during phacoemulsification, which has the potential to simplify the process of emulsifying and removing the lens.

Read the full press release ^[1].