Air bubble guide for adequacy of ophthalmic viscosurgical device during phacoemulsification

Abstract

Phacoemulsification in hard cataracts is a challenge. The use of dispersive ophthalmic viscosurgical devices (OVDs) to protect the endothelium is a routine step in such scenarios. However, as OVD is transparent, it is difficult to spot within the anterior chamber. Therefore, surgeons may not be aware when the OVD coating of the endothelium disappears during surgery. Consequently, there may be too frequent OVD injections, resulting in a waste of resources. On the contrary, the surgeon may fail to inject OVD at an appropriate time, leading to greater endothelial damage. We propose a novel technique of using an air bubble as a guide that helps in identifying the time when OVD disappears from the anterior chamber, thereby suggesting the surgeon to reinject before proceeding further.