ESCRS 2023: Scott D. Barnes, MD, looks to the future of user-friendly lens injectors

At this year’s European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) meeting, attendees were able to peek into the future of refractive care. Scott D. Barnes, MD, Chief Medical Officer at STAAR Surgical, gave a preview of developments that can improve care from the patients’ and physicians’ perspective.

Editor’s note: The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

TRANSCRIPT

Scott D. Barnes, MD: My name is Scott Barnes. I am the Chief Medical Officer for STAAR Surgical. ESCRS is one of our biggest meetings at STAAR Surgical. So we're excited to be live and in person, because so many years–for a few years with COVID, this wasn't possible. So we're excited to be here, face to face meetings.

We're focusing on the amazing EVO ICL™, and also an initial kind of work with the EVO Viva™, which is a myopic- and presbyopic-correcting lens. Always we're looking at the future. We're looking at different versions of the Collamer, that's the collagen-based polymer that is proprietary to STAAR Surgical. It's the only lens on the market that has that collagen-based polymer. We're looking at improved versions of that, to be used in different lens models.

We're looking at injectors, including working toward the pre-loaded injector system. That's always a wonderful thing, not to have to load the lens, although it's relatively easy with the injectors that we have now. And, and always more treatment options for hyperopia, for presbyopia, that includes toric or astigmatism correction as well. So stay tuned for those.

Later this year and in 2024–we think that we're looking at working with an injector company, hoping to have a newer, more user-friendly injector system. The one we have now works well. But there are modern technologies, modern injectors, so we're working with some very good companies to try to improve what we have, eventually leading to a pre-loaded injector system. And we think that may be coming out either later this year or next year. Just a way to facilitate, make the whole procedure a little easier.

When you talk to surgeons, loading the lens, getting it out of the chamber and loading lens, is one of the more stress-inducing, shall we say, aspects of it. So if we can improve that and make that better, we think that's certainly an add for the surgeons, and that we're looking forward to that maybe later this year or early next year.