Safer cataract surgery at hand
Phacoemulsification cataract surgery is one of the most frequently performed eye surgeries in the United States, with 1.5 million procedures undertaken each year. It is also one of the most complex procedures to learn. A new, highly innovative, computer-based simulation tool, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (Mass. Eye and Ear) Cataract Master, bridges the learning gap that residents and ophthalmologists new to phaco must navigate prior to performing actual surgery. Nearly a decade in the making, the Cataract Master was co-developed by Harvard Medical School’s (HMS) Bonnie An Henderson, assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology; John I. Loewenstein, ophthalmology residency training program director and an associate professor of ophthalmology; Adam Neaman; and several colleagues. Massachusetts Eye and Ear is a Harvard affiliate. Ophthalmology residents typically train in wet labs and on phacoemulsification simulators that supplement motor skills training before moving on to live patients. The leap from lab to patient is challenging...