We’ve Come A Long Way

APACRS 2023 ushers in new connections and fresh beginnings with colleagues old and new

Spirits were high and anticipation filled the halls of Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre as the APACRS organizing chairman, Dr. Chan Wing Kwong (Singapore), delivered his welcome speech, promising an exciting, informative program this year.

by Tan Sher Lynn

“The committee has worked very hard to put up a program that is curated, focused, relevant, and up to date — delivered by some of the most eminent speakers from across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond,” he noted.

He also took the audience on a wonderful trip down memory lane with a video showcasing APACRS milestones and meetings in different countries over the years since its inception in 1987.

Why

Meetings

Probably not since APACRS 2019 have we been able to connect with friends so strongly at the APACRS meeting. Here, Media MICE CEO Matt Young connects with longtime friend Bernie Ursell, Head of Professional Education, Refractive & Surgical, Global at ZEISS.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore, gave a poignant speech that reminded the audience how great it is to be able to finally meet each other in person again after the pandemic, and the importance of the clustering of the critical mass of minds that made today’s scientific and technological revolution possible.

“There’s still no substitute for a handshake, looking at each other’s eyes, and taking up extra cues which go beyond simply what we say on videos. Our experience of COVID-19 taught us the importance of having the best minds — clinicians, scientists, researchers, engineers — all together in the same room, working on common problems and achieving things on a global scale,” he said.

Last but not least, APACRS president Prof. Yao Ke (China) delivered his opening address, who took the opportunity to thank the speakers, ophthalmic societies, organizing members, staff, sponsors, and exhibitors for their contributions in making this event a success.

“As the world emerged from the pandemic, we are excited to enter a new era, that is to reconnect and restart the face-to-face exchange of cutting-edge topics and techniques after the challenging times. APACRS has provided us an opportunity to learn, engage, bring home new knowledge and skills, and also to connect with colleagues and friends. We all share the common goal of wanting to deliver the very best eye care for our patients,” he remarked.

Well-deserved recognitions

After the speeches, awards were presented by Dr. Yao to the deserving recipients, including the APACRS Certified Educators (A.C.E) Award — a program motivating ophthalmic surgeons in the region to play a more active role in disseminating the latest advances and techniques to their colleagues; the APACRS Gold Medal Award — which acknowledges the significant contributions of ophthalmologists to the development of cataract and refractive surgery in the region; and the APACRS Lim Lecture — which recognizes outstanding ophthalmologists for their extraordinary contributions to the development of cataract and refractive surgery.

This year, the APACRS Certified Educators Awards went to Dr. Mahipal Sachdev (India), Prof. Mohamad Rosman (Singapore), and Prof. Jodhbir Mehta (Singapore). Meanwhile, the APACRS Gold Medal Award was presented to Dr. Fam Han Bor (Singapore).

APACRS Lim Lecture — Developments in IOLs

As for the APACRS Lim Lecture Award, the highest award of the society, this year’s deserving recipient is one of the world’s leading intraocular lens (IOL) experts, Prof. Gerd U. Auffarth (Germany), who enlightened the audience with a talk entitled “Current and Future Development in Intraocular Implants with New Materials.”

Prof. Gerd began his talk by describing the evolution of monofocal IOLs, which according to him, have advanced tremendously. “All kinds of optical principles have also been developed in premium IOLs, such as diffractive optics, refractive optics with spherical aberration, and special optics with small aperture principle. It’s a jungle out there. There are so many types of lenses available nowadays,” he said.

He proceeded to explain presbyopiacorrecting IOLs under different categories: Enhanced monofocals, extended depth of focus (EDoF), extended range of vision (ERV), and trifocals.

“At the end of the day, all of these lenses give us, more or less, a larger ‘landing zone’ in order to achieve full vision and emmetropia in our patients,” Prof. Gerd noted.

A peek into the future of IOLs

Prof. Gerd also mentioned that with the current technology, binocular trifocality and reversible trifocality are achievable.

Looking into the future, he foresaw better IOL materials, such as those with higher biomaterial stability and purity, as well as novel polymers with enhanced optical and mechanical properties.

In terms of monofocal IOLs, he expected fine-tuning when it comes to design, material, and optical quality; extending optical features like depth of focus and peripheral vision; and adjustable IOL technology or modular approaches.

“For EDoF lenses, there will be more non-diffractive technology. Dysphotopsia profile will be similar to monofocal IOLs, but there are limitations in terms of reading ability. Trifocal/diffractive IOLs have reached a very high level but there’s still space for improvement, especially in terms of light balance, depth of focus, and dysphotopsia. An option will be hybrid approaches with non-diffractive optical components,” he continued.

To conclude his talk, Prof. Gerd gave us a peek into accommodative IOLs like the liquid-filled implants with shapechanging modular technology, which is interesting but still far away, as well as optoelectronic/mechatronic devices, which are still in the concept phase.