April 4, 2009
San Francisco, CA – After years of pre-operative diagnostic work and intraoperative guesswork, refractive-cataract surgeons now have a tool to guide the outcomes of their cataract procedures. The ORange™ Intraoperative Wavefront Aberrometer made its commercial debut today during the opening day of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.
The ORange Intraoperative Wavefront Aberrometer is so-named because it is used in the “OR” on a “range” of applications. The aberrometer attaches to the surgical microscope and provides on-demand readings of sphere, cylinder and axis in approximately 2 to 5 seconds. The system also has a large dynamic range -- -5 D to +20 D – making it ideal for intraoperative measurements.
“The launch of ORange is an exciting milestone in the evolution of refractive cataract surgery,” said Daniel S. Durrie, MD, medical director of Durrie Vision Institute in Overland Park, KS. “Until this point, even with careful pre-operative measurements and calculations, there was always an element of guesswork involved.”
With ORange, surgeons can obtain real-time measurements of the refractive state of the eye at any point during cataract surgery. The current standard of care is for surgeons to evaluate the preoperative data, come up with a surgical plan, execute it in the OR, and then play a waiting game to see what the results are.
ORange uses a Talbot-Moiré-based interferometry to analyze the wavefront reflected out of the eye by relaying it through an optical system and directing it through a pair of gratings that are set at a specific distance from, and offset angle to, each other. The reflected light is diffracted as it passes through the gratings, creating a diffraction, or fringe pattern. This fringe pattern is captured by a camera and then processed using WaveTec Vision proprietary algorithms to create the measurement.
“With ORange, I have a new sense of security knowing that I am maximizing the patient’s surgical result to give them the best possible postoperative uncorrected visual acuity,” said Eric Donnenfeld, MD, Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island, Rockville Centre, NY. Dr. Donnenfeld was among the first surgeons to use a prototype of the intraoperative wavefront aberrometer and has found a significant improvement in outcomes. “I find that I can reliably reduce my cylinder to a lower level with this technology.”
Initial applications for the ORange Intraoperative Wavefront Aberrometer are for guiding LRI’s and ensuring proper axis placement of toric IOLs. A future application will be the use of ORange for intraoperative aphakic IOL power calculations. In particular, the system is also showing value for use on post-LASIK eyes – often one of the greatest challenges in IOL calculations.
“In the past, I usually assessed my refractive outcomes at one month post-op and decided to either perform LRIs or an excimer laser enhancement to correct the residual refractive errors, depending on the residual cylinders and sphere,” said Dan B. Tran, MD, TLC Eye Institute, Newport Beach, CA. “Intraoperative ORange measurements give me instant feedback on my LRI allowing real-time enhancement as needed. ORange has also helped me in confirming the proper IOL choice to achieve the target refractive outcomes in post-LASIK cataract patients.”
The use of the ORange Intraoperative Wavefront Aberrometer offers refractive cataract surgeons a number of benefits including the potential for more certainty in surgery, more knowledge regarding their cases and outcomes, and the potential to increase practice revenues.
With the touch of a screen, surgeons will have information regarding the optical system of the eye that has not been available to them previously during the operative procedure. Knowing the refraction of the eye after various steps in the surgery will help guide decision-making.
Surgeons will benefit from the use of this state-of-the-art technology in their premium IOL procedures – an offering that may be optimal for Baby Boomers seeking to avoid spectacles for the first time in their lives – by creating a new standard of care. Further, the new ORange technology may assist in driving additional premium procedures and increasing fees for the premium IOL package, benefiting the practice economics.
“Patients understand this benefit and have overwhelmingly embraced the ORange technology in our practice,” said Dr. Donnenfeld.
All of the data captured intraoperatively is automatically transferred to the ORange AnalyzOR™ database, giving surgeons the ability to track and compare data via individualized reports or against the aggregate database of ORange users.
“We are pleased to have our commercial launch take place here in San Francisco during this key US meeting for cataract and refractive surgeons,” said Thomas J. Berryman, chief executive officer. “We really believe in the potential of ORange to transform the way refractive cataract surgery is performed today.”
ORange is currently in 10 sites and the company anticipates rolling out the technology to additional US sites throughout this year.
Clinical results from the ORange studies are the subject of five presentations on the scientific podium during ASCRS. (See separate list for titles and presenters)
WaveTec Vision is a privately held medical device company with headquarters in Aliso Viejo, CA. The company employs 41 and is focused on intraoperative wavefront technology for refractive cataract surgeons.
Please visit: www.wavetecvision.com or www.operateorange.com for more information.
Kristine A. Morrill
KAM Communications
Email: kmorrill@kamcommunications.com
Office: +44 208 542 5684
Mobile: +44 7787 137 962