Ophthalmology is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. A former term is oculism.
Phacoemulsification is a cataract surgery method in which the internal lens of the eye which has developed a cataract is emulsified with the tip of an ultrasonic handpiece and aspirated from the eye. Aspirated fluids are replaced with irrigation of balanced salt solution to maintain the volume of the anterior chamber during the procedure. This procedure minimises the incision size and reduces the recovery time and risk of surgery induced astigmatism.
Charles David Kelman was an American ophthalmologist, surgeon, inventor, jazz musician, entertainer, and Broadway producer. Known as the father of phacoemulsification, he developed many of the medical devices, instruments, implant lenses and techniques used in cataract surgery. In the early 1960s, he began the use of cryosurgery to remove cataracts and repair retinal detachments. Cryosurgery for cataracts remained in heavy use until 1978, when phacoemulsification, a procedure Kelman also developed in 1967, became the modern standard treatment. Kelman was given the National Medal of Technology by President George H. W. Bush and recognized as the Ophthalmologist of the Century by the International Congress of Cataract and Refractive Surgery in Montreal, Canada. He was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, and received the 2004 Lasker Award.
Cataract surgery, which is also called lens replacement surgery, is the removal of the natural lens of the human eye that has developed a cataract, an opaque or cloudy area. The eye's natural lens is usually replaced with an artificial intraocular lens (IOL).
Sir Nicholas Harold Lloyd Ridley was an English ophthalmologist who invented the intraocular lens and pioneered intraocular lens surgery for cataract patients.
The von Graefe knife was a tool used to make corneal incisions in cataract surgery. Use of the knife demanded a high level of skill and mastery, and was eventually supplanted by modifications of cataract surgery through the Kelman phacoemulsification technique that emphasized a small incision.
Howard V. Gimbel FRCSC, AOE, FACS, CABES, is a Canadian ophthalmologist, university professor, senior editor, and amateur musician. He is better known for his invention, along with Thomas Neuhann, of the continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis (CCC), a technique employed in modern cataract surgery.
Eric John Arnott, MA, FRCS, FRCOphth was a British ophthalmologist and surgeon who specialized in cataracts, a condition which in many parts of the world still remains the principal cause of blindness. He is known for inventing new surgical techniques for treatment of various ophthalmological disorders, and received professional awards for his contributions.
Noshir Minoo Shroff is an Indian ophthalmologist, notable for intraocular lens implantation surgery in India and a medical director of the Shroff Eye Centre. The Government of India honoured him in 2010, with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, for his services in the field of medicine.
Jeewan Singh Titiyal is an Indian ophthalmologist, credited with the first live cornea transplant surgery by an Indian doctor. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2014, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his services to the field of medicine.
Vijay Kumar Dada is an Indian ophthalmologist and a consultant at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi. An alumnus and a former chief of the Dr. R. P. Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, he has written several articles on eye diseases such as cataract and glaucoma. Dada, an elected fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, was honored by the Government of India, in 2002, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
In ophthalmology, glued intraocular lens or glued IOL is a surgical technique for implantation, with the use of biological glue, of a posterior chamber IOL in eyes with deficient or absent posterior capsules. A quick-acting surgical fibrin sealant derived from human blood plasma, with both hemostatic and adhesive properties, is used.
Intraocular lens scaffold or IOL scaffold technique is a surgical procedure in ophthalmology. In cases where the posterior lens capsule is ruptured and the cataract has not yet been removed one can insert the intraocular lens (IOL) inside the eye under the cataract. This way the IOL acts as a scaffold and prevents the cataract pieces from falling inside the back of the eye. The cataract can then be removed safely by emulsifying it with ultrasound and aspiration. This technique is called IOL scaffold and was started by Amar Agarwal from Chennai, India, at Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital.
Mahipal S. Sachdev is an Indian ophthalmologist and the Chairman of Centre for Sight, a chain of Eye Hospitals in India. He is known as one of the pioneers of Phacoemulsification procedure in India. He is the co-author of A Practical Guide to Phacoemulsification, the first Indian book on the topic. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for his contributions to Indian medicine. He is the Chairman Scientific Committee of the Intraocular Implant and Refractive Society of India, IIRSI.
Keiki R. Mehta, an Indian ophthalmologist, medical researcher and writer, is considered by many as the father of Phacoemulsification in India. He is the Chief Surgical and Medical Director at Mehta International Eye Institute, a Mumbai-based specialty eye hospital founded by him. He is known to be the first surgeon to perform a Radial keratotomy in India and is credited with the development of the first soft eye implant in the world, and the Keiki Mehta BP Valve Glaucoma Shunt, a medical implant used in the treatment of neovascular‚ congenital and uveitic glaucoma. He is a recipient of several honours including the Grand Honors Award of the National Eye Research Foundation, Chicago and the Triple Ribbon Award of the American Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for his contributions to Medicine.
Dr Abhay R. Vasavada started Raghudeep Eye Clinic (REH) – as a cataract speciality center in 1984 Ahmedabad, India. He is the first Indian and the second Asian to be awarded the Binkhorst Medal Lecture by the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (ASCRS) in 2011.
Burkhard Dick is a German ophthalmologist who has specialized in refractive and cataract surgery. With his many contributions to the scientific literature on this topic, he is considered one of the pioneers of employing the femtosecond laser in cataract surgery. In the "Power List 2023" ranking of the world's most influential ophthalmologists by the publication The Ophthalmologist, Burkhard Dick was listed among the Top 10.
Gerd Uwe Auffarth is a German eye surgeon and is Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Heidelberg University Eye Hospital and Head of the David J. Apple Center for Vision Research which includes the David J. Apple International Laboratory for Ocular Pathology.
Manual small incision cataract surgery (MSICS) is an evolution of extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE); the lens is removed from the eye through a self-sealing scleral tunnel wound. A well-constructed scleral tunnel is held closed by internal pressure, is watertight, and does not require suturing. The wound is relatively smaller than that in ECCE but is still markedly larger than a phacoemulsification wound. Comparative trials of MSICS against phaco in dense cataracts have found no difference in outcomes but MSICS had shorter operating times and significantly lower costs. MSICS has become the method of choice in the developing world because it provides high-quality outcomes with less surgically induced astigmatism than ECCE, no suture-related problems, quick rehabilitation, and fewer post-operative visits. MSICS is easy and fast to learn for the surgeon, cost effective, simple, and applicable to almost all types of cataract.
