On the forefront of eye surgery

The surgery involves the use of microscopic keyhole implements to implant high quality lenses into the eye of a patient suffering from cataracts. The technology includes a highly complex computerised system which, through the use of algorithms, measures the cornea and gives an accurate calculation for the type of implants needed for the patient and the angle at which they should be inserted.

“In the past, our implant technology was quite unsophisticated in that we would do the operation and it would be inaccurate in terms of the power of the lens. The patient would have to wear glasses for distance and reading,” said Dr Mark Deist.

Deist said surgeons would have to use microscopic spirit levels to create marks on the eyes to gain a horizontal reference in order to place the implant at a specific angle. He added, “This was fraught with errors, and if you were 10 degrees out, it would lead to a 30 to 40 percent reduction of the effect of these lenses.

The high quality aspheric implants, which are inserted through a very sophisticated system, project data to the surgeon through their microscope to ensure accuracy when inserting the implant.

Deist said, “The software will project a series of lines along which we turn the implant and get the astigmatism absolutely spot on, to 99% accuracy.”

The centre also offers tri-focal implants which allow the patient to see without glasses.

The Sandhurst Eye Centre is one of only a handful of medical centres which offer this form of refractive cataract surgery in the country, but is strictly in the private sector due to the technology being very expensive. Deist said it will eventually enter the public sector in the future as hospitals upgrade.