MEDICAL DEVICE INNOVATION - Medical Device Daily

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LenSar developing laser
technology for cataracts
By AMANDA PEDERSEN
Medical Device Daily Staff Writer
LenSar (New York), a startup company, says it is developing
a new laser therapy that could potentially remove
cataracts from people’s eyes more efficiently and with
greater precision than the current technology used to treat
cataracts. The company presented the technology at the
recent American Academy of Ophthalmology (San
Francisco) meeting.
Joseph Dello Russo, MD, a New York ophthalmologist
who was among the first doctors to perform laser eye surgery,
told Medical Device Daily that he has watched
LenSar’s technology develop from a concept in 2004 to an
actual laser, which the company began testing on patients
in Mexico about a year and a half ago. More recently, the
company began testing the laser on patients in the
Philippines, he said.
Russo has been affiliated with LenSar since its inception
and up until about six months ago was on the company’s
board.
LenSar plans to continue testing human patients outside
the U.S. until it has collected enough data to support
that the technology actually works, Russo said. The company
said it plans to start treating patients in the U.S. if the
FDA will consider the technology to be safe an effective,
based on the data.
Cataracts are currently treated with a device known as
a Phacoemulsifier, which uses ultrasound waves to break
up the contents of the cataract and, according to LenSar,
was nicknamed in the mid-seventies a “laser.”
“People think of it as a laser, which it’s not,” Russo said.
While the current technology is generally considered very
safe, he said that results largely depend on the skill of the
surgeon doing the procedure.
LenSar believes that its laser will make cataract surgery
easier to perform. Although the new device will cost more
than the existing technology, LenSar says the speed of surgery
may compensate for that by allowing more procedures
to be performed in less time.
Russo explained that the new laser technology has the
potential to allow for the use of premium implants, which
set up bifocal vision as well as provide a better way to treat
astigmatism. Such implants, Russo said, work best if they
are implanted exactly in the center of the eye, which will
depend upon the perfection of the capsulotomy – the incision
into the crystalline lens of the eye to remove cataracts
– which is currently done by hand. “Most of us can do that
pretty good, but there’s nothing like a laser that can do it
precise[ly],” he said.
Improved precision would also make the procedure
safer, Russo said. “It’s taking the surgeon out somewhat
MEDICAL DEVICE INNOVATION 2010
and making the laser do the work so it can be consistent all
the time.”
But only time – and more clinical testing – will tell if
LenSar’s new laser technology will work. So far though,
Russo says the results look promising. According to LenSar,
the laser has been used in about 100 operations outside the
U.S.
The company was formed by LenSar’s CEO, Randy Frey,
PhD, a scientist best known for the LASIK laser he developed,
according to the company.
LenSar acknowledged that it is in a head-to-head competition
to be the first to commercialize the laser technology.
However, Frey claims that he holds important patent
applications, which allow the company to focus on R&D and
pay less attention to competitors. He believes that LenSar’s
patents will prevail and will have a legal claim on any such
devices, regardless of their maker.
Russo told MDD that he suspects that LenSar’s
strongest competitor is a company called LenSx Lasers
(Aliso Viejo, California). “Either LenSx or LenSar is going to
be first,” he said, adding, “I’m not sure it’s important to be
first or not.”
According to LenSar, the real financial benefit for the
company is not in the sale of the laser but in the “royaltylike”
fee that is paid to the company each time the laser is
used.
(This story originally appeared in the Nov. 6, 2009, edition
of Medical Device Daily)
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