Dec 2017

SPECIAL FEATURE: RANZCO 2017
Dr Andrew Riley tries out the NGenuity 3D system with Alcon’s Greg Englebrecht RANZCO NZ president Dr Brian Kent-Smith with Drs Dianne Sharpe and Ian Elliott OIC’s Chris Malicdem and DORC’s David Maritz
Innovation at RANZCO 2017
BY LESLEY SPRINGALL
As with all RANZCO conferences there was
an excited buzz from the exhibition floor
as the world’s ophthalmic companies
unveiled their latest technological advances and
encouraged the delegate doctors to try what was
on offer, often for the first time. Here’s a selection
of just some of the news from RANZCO 2017.
Alcon – PanOptix and NGenuity
Celebrating 70 years of Alcon and 50 years
of phaco, Alcon was showcasing a number of
technologies at the RANZCO Congress, but
attracting the most attention was the company’s
suite of AcrySof IQ PanOptix intraocular lenses
(IOLs) and its NGenuity 3D Visualisation System.
The AcrySof IQ PanOptix Toric IOL was launched
in June 2017, completing the PanOptix family
of IOL’s for patients with pre-existing corneal
astigmatism undergoing cataract surgery. “It is
a new option for astigmatic patients who seek
to address their near, intermediate and distance
vision needs,” said Alcon in a statement.
Backed up by several clinical studies, and
referenced throughout Alcon’s material, Alcon
said the new PanOptix Toric covers cyl corrections
as low as 1.00 diopter. “(It offers) surgeons the
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confidence to deliver spectacle independence
through Alcon’s proprietary Enlighten (enhanced
light energy) optical technology… (and) overcomes
some of the limitations of current trifocal
technology by manipulating a quadrifocal
diffractive design.
“This is the only IOL that delivers an
intermediate focal point at 60cm, a distance
preferred by many patients for intermediate vision
activities, and offers rotational and axial stability
for consistently predictable outcomes.”
Alcon’s other latest innovation on show, and
with its own demo room at RANZCO 2017, was
NGenuity, a 3D visualisation platform for digitallyassisted
vitreoretinal surgery. It allows retinal
surgeons to operate looking at a high-definition
3D screen, instead of bending their necks to look
through the eye-piece of a microscope, to improve
surgeons’ posture which may also reduce fatigue,
said Alcon. “With the three-dimensional view, the
surgeon now has depth perception not previously
available on standard television monitors, often
used today in the operation theatre. Surgeons may
also increase magnification while maintaining a
wide field of view as well as use digital filters to
customise his or her view during each procedure,
highlighting ocular structures and tissue layers
which is imperative to visualise the back of
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the eye.” The system has also been designed to
minimise light exposure to the patient’s eye,
enabling the surgeon to operate with lower light
levels, said the company.
Clinical studies and more information on
both NGenuity and the PanOptix IOL family are
available on Alcon’s website.
Device Technologies – endoscopy
Rich Camarra and Device’s Ryan Heggie
Amid the multitude of high-tech devices on
Device Technologies’ stand was a cleverly designed
artificial eyeball used to help demonstrate Endo
Optiks E2 Ophthalmic Laser Endoscopy System.
The system simultaneously offers imaging
and laser function, providing a minimally
invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) approach
to glaucoma management using endoscopic
cyclophotocoagulation (ECP). Backed up by threeyears
of clinical data, ECP can be done through a
phaco incision and adds just two to four minutes
to your procedure time, said Rich Camarra,
international director for Endo Optiks.
“Retina surgeons are now beginning to embrace
endoscopy,” said Camarra, who had travelled from
Boston to Perth to demonstrate his company’s
endoscopy system, which has been designed
specifically for ophthalmology and comes in a
choice of straight and curved probe designs in
various gauge sizes.
Allergan – Xen and Ozurdex
Allergan’s stand was divided into two with
one half focused on its newly released Xen Gel
Implant, for better glaucoma management, and
the other on Ozurdex (dexamethasone 700mcg),
which has just been approved in New Zealand for
diabetic macular oedema.
The tiny Xen Gel Stent, is indicated for the
management of refractory glaucomas, including
cases where previous surgical treatment has
failed; cases of primary open-angle glaucoma;
and pseudoexfoliative or pigmentary glaucoma
with open angles that are unresponsive to
maximum tolerated medical therapy. Now
available in New Zealand, Xen is being welcomed
by ophthalmologists as a real alternative for
glaucoma patients. For more, see story on p3.
Ozurdex is also another welcome addition to
New Zealand ophthalmologists’ armamentarium.
A long-acting intravitreal steroid, delivered via a
sustained-release ocular implant, Ozurdex is now
funded for the treatment of macular oedema due
to retinal vein occlusion and non-infectious uveitis
affecting the posterior segment of the eye. For
more, see p16.
J&J Vision (surgical) – iDesign
J&J’s Hannah Howard and Christian Oster
Taking pride of place on Johnson & Johnson
Vision’s (formerly AMO’s) stand was the newly
updated, iDesign Refractive Studio, the “first and
only topo-integrated wavefront technology”.
Hannah Howard, J&J’s regional application
support manager, surgical, said the new iDesign
is very exciting as it’s the only device of its kind
currently on the market. “At the moment, the
only other options you have are wavefrontguided
or topography-guided, you don’t have
a combination of the two. So, what this is
offering is the customisation of the wavefront
aberrations, plus if there is any asymmetry or any
corneal irregularities those are also taken into
consideration. In just one click, the iDesign gives
you 18 different diagnostic views.”
The five-in-one iDesign System captures more
than 1,200 micro readings of the eye to give a
precise refraction, said Tom Frinzi, J&J’s worldwide
president, surgical in a statement. “The shape
and curvature of the cornea are also precisely
measured in a single three-second scan... enabling
surgeons to measure the entire visual pathway
and create an optical fingerprint unique to each
patient’s eye… (ushering) in the next level of
customisation.”
J&J has also doubled its surgical sales team in
New Zealand (see story p17).
Drs Harry Bradshaw, Stephen Best and Hussain Patel
Dr Nina Molteno and World Glaucoma Association’s
Thomas Howden
14 NEW ZEALAND OPTICS December 2017