Floyd Memorial Hospital Health Scope
Leading-Edge Technology Enhances Retinal Surgery
Jan/Feb 2009 - A child's smile. The pages of a favorite book. A vivid orange-red sunset. These are just a few of the images that enrich our lives. Sight is a gift we all want to preserve. Fortunately, as Howard. S. Lazarus, MD, ophthalmologist and fellowship trained medical surgeon and surgical retina specialist explained, "The variety and types of eye disorders that we can treat have expanded and the effectiveness of our treatments has improved markedly in recent years."
One ares in which these adancements have made a major difference is retinal surgery. The retina is a thin layer of light-sensitive tissue on the back inside wall of the eye. Following are two of the most significant improvements.
- Microinstrumentation - A number of retinal surgeries require the removal of the vitreous gel inside the eye. "The instrument we use at Floyd Memorial is extremely small and cuts at a very high rate," said Dr. Lazarus. "The tiny size plus its high cut rate enable me to maneuver near the retina and any scar tissue that may be present more precisely than the previous generation of instruments. The incisions are so small that they are self-sealing and need no sutures. There is less trauma to the outside of the eye, and recovery is much faster."
- Powerful Illumination - According to Dr. Lazarus, " It can be difficult to visualize the inside of the eye. If you go back just 10 years, we had to hold a light pipe in one hand and our instrument in the other. Now we have an extremely powerful light source called the Photon IITM. It allows us to pump enough light through a tiny 25-gauge fiber to illuminate the entire inside of the eye. With this type of illumination, I don't have to hold a light and can have both hands free for operating."