A tool used to slice and remove the lens of the eye through an ultra-small incision without causing fragmentation.
New York Eye and Ear of Mount Sinai
August 2023
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The current standard of care for cataract surgery is a procedure called phacoemulsification which uses a machine that creates high-energy ultrasonic vibrations to break up the cataract in conjunction with a fluidic vacuum to remove the resulting debris. These machines are prohibitively expensive for many hospitals around the world and very few eye surgeons have undergone the years of additional training it requires to operate one. It also comes with risk of burns and other complications.
Unfortunately, the debris that results from breaking up the cataract leaves the lens bag too cloudy for suitable vision. This leaves only one alternative: remove the cataract in one piece and destroy the lens bag in the process, making it impossible to insert a replacement artificial lens. This procedure, known as ECCE, leaves patients with 10/20 vision at best. Unfortunately, this is the only option for many people in developing countries.
This device must be able to remove a hard cataract of ~10 mm in diameter through a 3 mm incision (2 mm effective diameter), all without damaging the thin lens bag that holds the cataract firmly in place. One of the main objectives of the project was to keep the product entirely mechanical to ensure it could be used in developing countries without access to electricity.
This was definitely one of the most enjoyable projects I worked on at NYEE because it required a lot of creativity, group brainstorming, and mechanical problem-solving to come up with a viable solution that could be manufactured at scale and FDA approved.
