People with diabetes frequently suffer from a particular eye disease which can be helped with a new eye surgery procedure.
Many diabetics suffer from diabetic retinopathy, a disease that blocks blood vessels in the retina. In response, new and fragile vessels form and rupture, which clouds the patients vision and can lead to blindness.
In the past, patients had laser surgery to destroy the new vessels before they could burst. The therapy involved four 15-minute treatments.
The traditional laser treatments are so painful that many patients stop after the first treatment. Optimedica’s new Patterned Scanning Laser, or Pascal, is not nearly so uncomfortable, and treatment can be done in one session.
According to Michael Wiltberger, lead engineer at OptiMedica Corp., the patient’s treatment may be over with in a very short time. He told LiveScience, We can do 56 laser burns in less than 600 milliseconds and the whole procedure in under five minutes.
The laser burn pulse length has been dramatically shortened with Pascal, which results in an equally dramatic reduction in pain.
Mr. Wiltberger says that some patients feel no discomfort at all.
Pascal can also be used to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinal vascular occlusive disease.