Sponsored by Alcon
A blockbuster debut in India puts Alcon’s Unity® VCS and Unity® CS—a superior^ efficiency powerhouse—under the surgical spotlight.
In a scene that felt less like a product launch and more like curtain-up at a Bollywood premiere, Alcon’s (Geneva, Switzerland) new Unity® Vitreoretinal Cataract System (VCS) and Unity® CS made its debut at the 37th annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (APACRS 2025) in Ahmedabad, India. The new, versatile platform offers two configurations, a combined console (VCS) which is now available, and a standalone cataract system (CS), which will be commercially available in the coming months. Rolling on stage on its own, the machine drew gasps from a packed house of eye care professionals.
The choice of venue was no accident: India, with its immense cataract and vitrectomy caseloads, is both the world’s busiest ophthalmic theater and an ideal proving ground for what Alcon believes is a transformational leap in surgical technology.
A bold vision
Alcon, during the launch in India, highlighted taking the company’s mission a little further by pushing its boundaries and challenging all odds. This launch, according to Alcon, is a testament of years of hard work, a collaboration of engineers, of surgeons, of visionaries who dared to ask one question, ‘Can we do it a little better?’.
Alcon’s answer is Unity VCS: a single platform that merges cataract and vitreoretinal surgery capabilities, designed for precision, superior^ efficiency and, ultimately, excellent patient outcomes.
Senior Vice President and President of Alcon International, Rajkumar Narayanan, underscored why India was the right place for such a launch. “We believe that India as a market is really appropriately suited for this piece of technology,” he said. “It is the largest cataract market in the world with about eight million cataracts performed annually here. And the workload for surgeons is immense, with only one ophthalmologist available for every 100,000 people.”
Technical innovations that transform surgery
This next-generation platform introduces several first-to-market technologies that bring transformative advances to cataract and vitreoretinal surgery, including UNITY 4D Phaco, HYPERVIT® 30K and the sophisticated UNITY Intelligent Fluidics system.
Senior Director of R&D at Alcon, Satish Yalamanchili, explained that it is offered in two configurations: VCS for combined vitreoretinal and cataract surgery, and CS for cataract only. Both run on the same platform for consistency and ease of use.
“The goal was to be able to create a single platform with multiple configurations, so that it is not only efficient for you, but also for your staff,” Mr. Yalamanchili noted. “It creates that level of ability to be able to operate this irrespective of which segment you’re operating.”
The headline act, however, is Unity’s 4D Phaco, a major evolution beyond longitudinal and torsional ultrasound. “This 4D motion results in faster nucleus removal and less energy released into the eye†,” he explained, while video footage demonstrated the technology’s unique volumetric cutting pattern.
Bench data suggested it is “twice as fast as [removing] luminal material†, which means that the amount of energy that you’re imparting at the excision is also reduced by half,” Mr. Yalamanchili said. Overall, the system delivers “41% less energy into the eye†,” potentially leading to more^ efficient surgeries and excellent outcomes for patients.
Another milestone is Intelligent Fluidics, which maintains intraocular pressure (IOP) with flow rather than pressure. “Previously with Centurion®, we were changing source pressure to maintain the IOP. But now in this system, for the very first time, we’re going to be maintaining that IOP with flow, infusion flow,” Mr. Yalamanchili explained. “In other words, it’s going to help you because even if you have an incisional leakage‡, it would not matter. It’s going to maintain the desired IOP.”
The system also features enhanced surge mitigation technology, building on Alcon’s ACTIVE SENTRY® technology to provide exceptional efficiency and even better chamber stability when compared with CENTURION with Active Sentry during simulated occlusion break testing§.
For surgeons, Unity VCS and Unity CS bring several upgrades:
- UNITY® HyperVit® 30K, the world’s fastest cutter at 30,000 cuts per minute, outpaces previous systems by 50%§§.
- UNITY® 27+ DS perform with the stiffness of 25-gauge tools, optimizing surgical control and reach—without compromising efficiency.
- UNITY® TetraSpot allows flexibility between one, two or four spots depending on cases.
- UNITY® Illumination with variations in luminance and color contrast helps surgeons distinguish tissue planes excellently.
Unity VCS in the real world
Dr. Hisaharu Suzuki from Japan shared results from roughly 205 Unity VCS surgeries since February 2025.
“I perform approximately 1,500 cataract surgeries per year and UNITY VCS/CS has streamlined my surgical procedures while enabling us to deliver exceptional patient outcomes,” said Dr. Suzuki.
And through a series of case presentations, Dr. Suzuki showed Unity VCS performing smoothly across a spectrum of cataracts. “The UNITY 4D phaco technology in particular has been impressive, breaking up even large, dense cataracts efficiently, while maintaining more physiologic IOP throughout the surgery,” he shared.
“Beyond the device performance, UNITY VCS/CS expedites my surgical workflow and introduces significant usability improvements—which my entire team greatly appreciates,” added Dr. Suzuki.
A new era for ophthalmic surgery in India
The symbolism of launching Unity VCS in India was not lost on attendees. “India is a market where you have really talented surgeons, and I am for sure really excited and looking forward to what all of you can do with this technology, how you can push the boundaries even further,” Mr. Narayanan said.
“Alcon has a long legacy of advancing phaco and vitreoretinal technology for surgical ophthalmology. With UNITY VCS/CS, we are introducing more than a dozen innovations designed to deliver significant efficiencies for surgery centers across the globe,” said Amar Vyas, Country Head of Alcon India.
“We are especially proud to bring these next-generation equipment solutions to India, a country with a rapidly growing demand for advanced eye care. By equipping ophthalmic surgeons with cutting-edge technology, we aim to better support healthcare professionals with enhanced stability and efficiency and elevate the standard of care for patients across India,” added Mr. Vyas.
As the session closed with a celebratory cake-cutting, one thing was clear: Alcon isn’t simply adding another tool to the surgeon’s armamentarium. By combining cataract and vitreoretinal surgery on a single platform with superior efficiency, stabilizing the intraoperative environment in a new way, and introducing a cutting technique that quite literally thinks outside the box, Unity VCS feels more like a reset button for ophthalmic surgery.
^ based on bench testing. Compared to Constellation and centurion
†Based on bench data.
* Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
**Based on N=10 HPs, Artificial cataract lens IOP 55mmhg vacuum of 450 mmHg
‡ Mean fluctuation at flow vs. setpoint of 2.36 ± 2.13, 4.19 ± 1.97, 1.84 ± 2.82, and 2.13 ± 2.86 mmHg during phacoemulsification, irrigation/aspiration (IA), vitrectomy, and extrusion/fragmentation, respectively. †IOP setpoint as low as 16 mmHg (posterior) and 20 mmHg (anterior) without exceeding a mean fluctuation of 4.19 ± 1.97 mmHg.
§ Based on bench data. Reduction in surge is correlated to less change in anterior chamber depth.
§§ Compared to HYPERVIT 20k
Editor’s Note: The 37th annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (APACRS 2025) was held from 21-23 August in Ahmedabad, India. Reporting for this story took place during the event. This is only for reference of registered medical practitioner or a hospital or a laboratory. It is not intended for the general public. Products or therapies discussed may not be registered or approved in all jurisdictions.
UCMPMD Guidance
- For the use only of registered Medical Practitioners or a Hospital, or a Laboratory.
- Brand Name: Unity VCS,Unity CS Imported & Marketed by: Alcon Laboratories (India) Pvt. Ltd., 11th Floor, RMZ Azure, Bellary Road, Hebbal, Bengaluru – 560092
- Please refer to the relevant product DFU for detailed list of indications, warnings, precautions for use, contraindications, etc. Additional information is available on request.
- Date/ last updated: <01-July 2024>