New approach to presbyopia treament

This is the first ESCRS congress for 9-month old company, Technolas, which was formed out of a joint venture between Bausch and Lomb's refractive surgery unit and 20/10 Perfect Vision. The new business was founded to innovate in excimer and femtosecond laser technologies, focusing primarily on the correction of presbyopia.

It promotes a comprehensive service and support structure to provide surgeons with training and applications support to adapt their clinics to service the developing presbyopia patient segment.

CCO Mike Riding explained: “The current LASIK market is very tough. The number of procedures being performed is stuck because 20 to 30 year olds don't have the cash for LASIK. The bread and butter market is very difficult.” Against this background he asks doctors to imagine a new procedure, a minimally invasive technique, that will service 40 to 60 year olds - the baby boomers.

Enter the new INTRACOR femtosecond laser procedure from Technolas. The INTRACOR technique provides flapless intrastromal correction using the FEMTEC femtosecond laser to reshape the cornea. Technolas says this can be achieved whilst still maintaining the integrity of the corneal surface.In addition to offering a solution for presbyopia the technique can also be used as a minimally invasive technique for hyperopia, myopia and astigmatism.

“We believe the market size will be several times larger than the current LASIK market,” said Riding. He explained that this is not just Technolas's view, but a growing belief that demand to treat presbyopia will continue to grow. Strong attendance at the wet labs run by the company at 20-minute intervals during this year's Congress could be evidence that he is right.