Innovation and education led the way on opening day of the 42nd Annual Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS 2024).
Wetlabs and training in subspecialties like refractive, glaucoma and cornea also had their day in the Barcelona sun as ophthalmic surgeons and representatives of the eye care industry descended upon the Fira de Barcelona (Gran Via) convention center at Plaza de Europa.
Your correspondent also had his day in the Barcelona sun, but all too literally. The assumption that there was only one Fira de Barcelona turned out to be a comically bad one—and a sweltering walk from Fira to Fira was the punishment for ignorance.
The scene upon arrival was as hectic as it was expected for one of the eye care calendar’s marquee events. Despite the early afternoon heat that nearly waylaid your correspondent, throngs of doctors spilled from the registration booth out into the entrance courtyard to get the jump on the latest in global and European anterior segment eye care innovation and education.
iNovation Day highlights
The ESCRS tradition of setting the stage with what’s new continued with another rousing edition of their iNovation Day in the Plenary Hall.
The future of ophthalmology came into focus with a series of sessions jam-packed with the freshest that the field has to offer in 2024. We covered sessions on contemporary hot topics from the digital operating room to developments in presbyopia correcting-IOLs (PC-IOLs), but one session in particular drew the most attention.
And wouldn’t you know it, that session also happens to be our highlight session for today’s daily show coverage—The Innovator’s Den. Styled after television hit The Dragon’s Den (or Shark Tank for my fellow Americans), the session saw some of ophthalmology’s up-and-coming innovators duke it out for the top prize. If you want to know who had the goods, be sure to check out our writeup now!
Super subspecialty day and wetlab mania
It wouldn’t be an ESCRS Day 1 without the spotlight falling on other anterior segment specialties, and that’s exactly what went down in the many rooms surrounding Hall 8.
Glaucoma Day was full of pearls from perfecting exams to mastering MIGS and more—along with a healthy dose of cooperation with the European Glaucoma Society. Cornea Day continued the day’s theme of what’s new in eye care with sessions on the cutting edge in keratoconus, crosslinking, keratoplasty and others.
One final noteworthy event was the Global Refractive Summit. This nod to the explosive growth of refractive procedures around the world saw leading experts discuss the ever-expanding list of options in the field, including presbyopia-correcting possibilities and current wunderkind, phakic IOLs.
Beyond subspecialty day was the usual menu of wetlabs—but those are, by necessity, closed to the press—so I guess you’ll have to sign up for next year’s edition to see what happens behind closed doors.
Industry updates
Industry is a key component in bringing the kind of life-changing innovations showcased on Day 1 of ESCRS 2024 to the patients and surgeons who need them most. Here we run down some of the key industry developments and product launches happening at ESCRS 2024.
- Rayner (booth 7.D24) is giving surgeons a chance to check out their first-ever spiral IOL, RayOne Galaxy, designed with the help of AI trained on patient feedback. Booth presentations will feature first experience reports and initial data from experts like Mr. Allon Barsam.
- BVI (booth 7.G57) has their own cutting-edge entry into the IOL space with their intermediate-optimized SERENITY and SERENITY Toric premium monofocal IOLs. These lenses are an evolution of their original ISOPURE premium monofocal, and feature their patented ISOFOCAL optic technology and double c-loop POD platform.
- Alcon (booths 7.A00, 7.D13) is furthering its commitment to ophthalmology’s digital future with the debut of their SMARTCataract DX digital planning system and NGENUITY 1.5 digital OR solution
- ZEISS (booths 7.D23, 7.D15) is dropping a large cache of data on their new AT ELENA 841P trifocal IOL, and debuting a host of new innovations, including:
- A first lenticule extraction treatment in the CE market for hyperopia
- ARTEVO 750 and 850 optical and digital ophthalmic microscopes
- ZEISS AI IOL Calculator
- ZEISS CIRRUS PathFinder for fully integrated AI decision support for pre-cataract surgery OCT assessment
- ZEISS Surgery Optimizer for AI-based video segmentation
- Haag-Streit (booth 7.C66) is also joining the digital revolution in ophthalmology with its METIS ophthalmic microscope. The company is touting METIS as both future proof and modular for a variety of applications in the ophthalmic operating room.
Editor’s Note: Reporting for this story took place at the 42nd Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ESCRS 2024), held from 6-10 September in Barcelona, Spain.
