THE ENGAGED PRACTICE

Clinical Advantages in Less Time

The OPD-Scan III makes complex cases easier while streamlining everyday workups.

BY ERIN MURPHY, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

When it comes to diagnostic technology, every new addition to a practice has the potential to deliver data that will assist surgeons in making the best treatment decisions. The bar continues to rise, and gathering more accurate data can help you reach it. As time becomes more precious than ever, technologies such as the OPD-Scan III (Marco), which improves outcomes while automating testing, offers more essential data in less time.

“We added the OPD-Scan III to increase efficiency in the practice and capture as many data points as possible in the shortest amount of time,” explains Mitchell A. Jackson, MD, Founder and Director of Jacksoneye in Lake Villa, Ill. “It delivers corneal topography, wavefront analysis, higher-order aberration data and angle kappa for both eyes in 20 seconds or less. That indirectly allows us to see more patients per hour, which improves our bottom line. It gives me a lot of bang for my buck and a superior understanding of the total visual system.”

Dr. Jackson says the inherent accuracy of the OPD-Scan III, combined with its speed and simultaneous functions, helps ensure that he receives accurate data. “When patients move from one device to the next, their eyes dry out and the accuracy of the data declines. By getting the whole picture on one machine, we eliminate the risk of ocular surface desiccation, so we can obtain the accurate data we need to make decisions.”

The OPD-Scan III at Work

At Jacksoneye, all preoperative LASIK and cataract patients are evaluated with the OPD-Scan III. “With the data it provides, we’re able to customize surgery,” Dr. Jackson says. “That might mean choosing the best lens implant, whether it’s standard or advanced. It might influence other surgical decisions, such as whether to use a wavefront-guided or wavefront-optimized approach based on aberration data. The OPD-Scan III helps us make those kinds of decisions for a broad range of patients.”

Dr. Jackson and his staff offer several examples of types of patients who can benefit from the information provided by the OPD-Scan III.

Patients with high angle kappa: “A patient came in for her cataract workup and asked for multifocal IOLs, which her husband had received several years before and loved. However, her mesopic angle kappa was 0.46, beyond my 0.4 cutoff for multifocal lens implant technology (as presented at the ESCRS 2012 meeting in Milan),” recalls Dr. Jackson. “I explained to her that she would not see properly with multifocals, especially for night driving. Instead, based on the fact that she’s an avid bird watcher, we decided to go with an aspheric monofocal IOL, and she continues to use reading glasses after surgery. She couldn’t have the lens she asked for, but she understood that based on the data, a multifocal IOL wasn’t right for her.”

Post-refractive patients: With the likelihood that more and more cataract patients will have had previous refractive surgery, Dr. Jackson is further empowered by data from the OPD-Scan III. “Spherical aberrations are common in post-refractive patients. For example, one of my patients who was treated for myopia presented with significant positive spherical aberration. By quantifying the aberrations, the OPD-Scan III enabled me to choose the lens implant with the best negative spherical aberration to balance those numbers,” says Dr. Jackson. “It also gives me the effective central corneal power to plug into the ASCRS calculator, so it’s fast and easy to get the correct IOL power for a post-refractive patient.”

Patients with challenging refractions: Dr. Jackson has confidence in the accuracy of the OPD-Scan III’s autorefraction. His staff knows that in certain cases, autorefraction is a far superior choice to the manual option. “For nonresponsive patients, small children or anyone who has trouble determining whether 1 or 2 is better, the OPD-Scan III gives us an accurate starting point,” says Heidi Spaw, Jacksoneye’s coordinator of surgery scheduling and clinical studies. “We can see what the patient sees. So, for example, if a child really wants glasses, the OPD-Scan III can show us very clearly and objectively if he really needs them.”

Connecting with Patients

The quality and volume of the data provided by the OPD-Scan III, as well as the speed of collection, aren’t necessarily visible to patients. But doctors and staff also can use the system to engage patients in the process of diagnosis and treatment.

“The testing process is much more visual in our ‘Marco room’ than it is in our standard testing room. With the EPIC workstation and the OPD-Scan III, patients can see everything we’re doing,” says Ms. Spaw. “The OPD-Scan III also lets Dr. Jackson show patients the objective facts about their eyes, whether that means showing them how well they might see with an advanced IOL or showing parents how their child will see with glasses.”

“Patient education with the OPD-Scan III is graphic,” Dr. Jackson agrees. “Because I can show patients the reasons behind my recommendations, such as distinguishing between corneal and lenticular astigmatism and the need for a toric IOL, they feel more confident. They’re even more likely to go with an advanced IOL if that’s what I think is best. And most importantly, they’re more satisfied after surgery.” ●

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