Cataracts are one of the leading causes of blindness. The condition affects 65 million people worldwide, and four in five people who develop it will eventually go blind.
Cataracts occur when the lens of the eye develops cloudy patches. People with cataracts see the world as if they are looking through a frosted window. This can make daily tasks difficult, reducing mobility and independence, and severely impacting a person’s quality of life.
Although cataracts can happen due to injury, the main cause is old age. With the World Health Organisation estimating that the number of people over the age of 60 will nearly double from 12% to 22% by 2050, cataract cases are expected to rise significantly.
Treatment to prevent blindness
Cataracts can be easily treated if detected early. The treatment involves replacing the cloudy lens with an artificial lens. Thanks to specialist lens injectors that enable a new lens to be safely inserted once the cloudy lens has been removed, eye surgeons can perform this treatment in under 30 minutes.
These injectors are normally designed to support either of the main two surgical techniques, push motion or screw motion, depending on the preference of each eye surgeon and how they were trained.
Eyesight-saving technologies
Medicel spotted an opportunity to provide greater flexibility to eye surgeons and improve cost efficiency for its customers. Previously, the company provided two types of injectors – a push motion and a screw motion. Now the company has developed an innovative new product to enable eye surgeons to complete eyesight-saving surgery even more flexibly.
The result is a dual injector called the ACCUJECT™ Dual Injector. This innovative device can be quickly adjusted to work in either push or screw mode, based on the surgeon’s preferred operating mode or the patient’s needs. This offers surgeons more flexibility but with the same accuracy of a single mode injector. It also provides a more cost-effective option for Medicel’s customers in hospitals and manufacturing by simplifying the supply to one combined product.
“We are constantly looking to disrupt ourselves and find new ways of improving our technology, in support of eye surgeons and improving patients’ lives. This means working closely with our customers to develop the most innovative injectors and surgical tools for safer, simpler, and more efficient eye surgery. I am very proud of our contribution to saving the sight of millions of patients around the world.”
Mauro Bühler
CEO, Medicel
Medicel is one of four eye care companies in the Halma group, including Volk, Keeler and MST, who are helping to tackle the global issue of preventable blindness. Together, their sight-saving solutions are improving the quality of life for millions of people every day.
This article was first published as an exclusive in Healthcare Digital on 22 June.
