Novel cataract surgery tool at Saanich Peninsula

SAANICH, BC – A new machine designed to improve safety and efficiency during cataract surgery was wheeled into an operating room at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital last month, making it the first in use at a public hospital across the country.

Dr. Patrick Yang (pictured), the only ophthalmologist on staff at the hospital, said he was thrilled that the Saanich Peninsula Hospital and Healthcare Foundation funded his request for the Alcon UNITY Cataract System.

Yang also specializes in plastic surgery around the eye and is the surgical site chief at the hospital. He also operates at other facilities in Greater Victoria.

He said it’s been a privilege to bring such advanced technology to a community medical centre like the one in Central Saanich.

The machine is the only one in western Canada. The others are at private cataract clinics in large urban centres, such as Toronto, he said.

Yang used the machine in surgery for the first time this month and said he was “blown away” by its abilities.

“I felt like I was driving a sports car,” he said, adding that he was excited to tell his patients, who were awake during the surgery, that they were some of the first to experience the machine.

“I think they could hear it in my voice.”

One benefit of the machine comes from the ultrasonic tool it uses to break up the old, cloudy lens before it’s removed and an artificial lens can be placed, Dr. Yang said.

Cataracts happen as the eye ages and proteins inside the clear, natural lens behind the pupil break down and clump together, causing cloudiness.

While this type of ultrasonic technique, named phacoemulsification, has been around since the late 1960s, the new machine creates less overall energy in the eye when breaking up and sucking out the old lens.

That energy is measured during the procedure, and higher levels can cause more swelling, inflammation, and risk damaging the cornea.

Dense cataracts usually require more energy, but Dr. Yang said he was surprised when one patient with a hard cataract required far less energy than he would expect after doing countless surgeries in his decade as a doctor.

He performs about 1,000 cataract surgeries a year and estimates he’s done more than 10,000 in his career.

Another benefit of the machine is that it has a system that senses and helps regulate the pressure inside the eye during the surgery, he said.

Yang said the old machine is still in use at the hospital, meaning that more surgeries could be performed at once in the future.

Heather Edward, CEO of the hospital foundation, said the new machine was the ideal choice for a medical facility located in a part of the region with so many ageing people.

“It’s probably one of the most common surgeries in the elderly.”

Edward said Yang asked her team to fund the machine in the spring, and the decision was a “no-brainer.”

“It’s a very low-cost product for a very high return,” Edward said, adding that the $145,000 price tag is cheap compared to other medical devices, such as X-ray machines.

Funds for the machine came from donations that donors designated for medical equipment, she said.