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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – New York, NY, — A new laser therapy that can potentially remove cataract from people’s eyes more effeciently and with greater percision was presented on Ocotber 24, 2009 at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting. The technology, which is being tested in clinical trials, was developed by LenSar, a start-up company which is in a head-to-head competition with two other player to be the first who will commercialize the technology and start treating patients.
It is commonly believed that cataract surgeries, which totaled at more than three million procedures in the U.S. last year, are already bing done with a laser device. In fact, doctors are currently using a technology created in the mid 1970’s by famous eye surgeon Dr. Charles Kelman, based on a sonic dental cleaner, which doctors use to manually scrub the milky substance off patient’s eyes. That may soon change since the new laser device shows promissing results in treating cataracts.
Dr. Joseph Dello Russo, a New York laser eye surgeon who pioneered Lasik treatments and was part of the original team of doctors who performed the clinical trials of laser eye surgery, is affiliated with LenSar, whose results were recently published in the September issue of “Jourmnal of cataract and refractive surgery”. Dr. Dello Russo: “we are very excited with the results we got so far and hope that this technology will change people’s lives the way Lasik has done so”.
LenSar was formed in 2004 by scientist Randy Frey, Ph.D., Dr. Joseph Dello Russo, as well as a special team of proven eye professionals. The same wavelength laser as the Intratalase laser is used in a device developed by Randy Frey Ph.D. to alter the natural lens of the eye. A couple of years ago, the company beagm to safely but partially treat human eyes with the laser in trials outside the U.S. After about 100 eye treatments, the research group has reached some positive results. Further research and development efforts are currently underway.
Dr. Joseph Dello Russo has built a name for himself for identifying and supporting new eye treatment technologies. In 2000 he invested in a new type of laser that replaced the blade previously used in Lasik. Dello Russo was intrigued by a start-up company called Intralase of San Diego, California. Not only did he lend money to keep the company afloat for most of that year but he also ordered the very first two successful commercial lasers machines Intralase made that were sent to his New York and New Jersey offices in 2002.
Dello Russo has been first in recognizing other emerging ophthalmic techniologies. He was the first to purchase the first laser used for Lasik in 1989, and the first to recognize the advance in Lasik laser technology known as the ATC laser, which was also developed by the same scientist, Ramndy Frey, Ph.D. “I always kept my nose to the ground sniffing out what new device might be out there, which needs a little extra push. Finding a possible new emerging technology, latching on to it and then helping to launch it to benefit the world’s patients,” tells Dr. Dello Russo.
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