Industry News

Heidelberg Engineering Introduces New Features to ANTERION Platform

Heidelberg Engineering reported the latest software upgrade allows existing ANTERION customers to add epithelial thickness measurements, intuitive visualisation for assessing corneal ectasia, and automatic anterior chamber measurements to their devices. New customers will find the clinical tools already integrated into the comprehensive platform.

The optional Epithelial Thickness Module allows clinicians reproducible evaluation of corneal epithelial thickness. The parameters and colour maps are intended to assist in refractive surgery planning and treatment control, ocular surface evaluation, screening for corneal ectasia, and other diagnostic areas. The new module for the ANTERION Cornea App also generates thickness maps and measurements for the residual stroma, providing further insights into patients’ corneal health.

Another addition, the ANTERION Ectasia View, is a new comprehensive toolset aiding the assessment of ectatic changes in the cornea. The diagnostic dashboard combines all relevant information in one place. Clinicians can evaluate the most important tomographic maps and parameters at a glance and track progression details with intuitive visualisation tools.

The dashboard also includes the SCORE (Screening Corneal Objective Risk of Ectasia) Analyzer, a unique analysis tool for keratoconus and other ectatic diseases. SCORE, developed by French surgeons Dr Damien Gatinel and Dr Alain Saad, combines multiple corneal indices that describe the magnitude of corneal steepening, thinning, and asymmetry, helping eyecare specialists assess the probability of ectatic changes in their patients’ eyes.

First introduced in 2018, the ANTERION system combines biometry, IOL calculations, cornea diagnostics, and anterior chamber metrics based on high-resolution, swept-source OCT images.

www.anterion.com www.heidelbergengineering.com/int/company

NEWS IN BRIEF

SCHWIND EYE-TECHSOLUTIONS FUNDS ULTRA-SHORT PULSE LASER RESEARCH

Schwind announced the initiation of a research project to develop an ophthalmic refractive laser system that uses ultra-short laser pulses. The project will evaluate the feasibility of the Laser-Induced Refractive Index Change (LIRIC) procedure for treating ametropia. This non-invasive approach does not remove tissue to change the refractive power of the cornea—rather, LIRIC corrects refractive errors using local modification of optical qualities of the cornea.

The company believes LIRIC has the potential to correct not only common refractive errors such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism but also high order aberrations as well as presbyopia. This might include ametropic patients who could not previously undergo laser correction—for example, those whose corneas are too thin or too curved.

The company is planning initial investment in basic research of more than 1.6 million euro, of which 52% is funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Through its “KMUInnovativ” initiative, the BMBF is supporting Schwind and its project partner—the Ruhr Universität Bochum (RUB) University Eye Hospital, Bochum, Germany—in their efforts to give many more people the opportunity of laser vision correction.

Prof. Dr. med. Stephanie Joachim of the University Eye Hospital at RUB is designing and conducting a tailored preclinical study with hydrogel and ex vivo animal eyes to analyse and validate the efficacy and safety of the LIRIC procedure. www.eye-tech-solutions.com

LENSAR GETS THE NOD FOR NEW CATARACT TREATMENT SYSTEM

Lensar reported it had received US FDA 510(k) clearance for its ALLY Adaptive Cataract Treatment System. The company says this will be its first platform to integrate its proprietary imaging with an optimised femtosecond laser in a compact system. The integrated system is said to allow the surgeon to perform the entire cataract procedure in an operating room or in-office surgical suite, increasing efficiency and decreasing costs. ALLY includes the company’s proprietary Streamline® software technology. The system uses advanced astigmatic management tools improve accuracy and precision. lensar.com/technology/ally-adaptive-cataract-treatment-system