Annual conferences, like the recent American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS 2022), provide a platform for industry partners to share updates on their technology — and importantly, communicate results directly to doctors. Media MICE was in Washington, D.C. during the conference and sat in on a session from ZEISS that explored the company’s latest technologies, including some exciting news…
During the lunch symposium, several devices from ZEISS were highlighted to illustrate the company’s focus on “new ways to save time, increase efficiency and improve outcomes throughout cataract workflow.” These included the IOL Master 700 and the ZEISS EYEGUIDE Mobile App, among others. Notably, they also shared that the QUATERA 700 has just received U.S. FDA clearance.
QUATERA user Dr. Sri Ganesh, chairman and managing director of Nethradhama Super Specialty Eye Hospital, Bangalore (India), introduced the QUATERA 700 before sharing results from a ZEISS-supported clinical study on the device.
Described by ZEISS as “a revolution in phaco technology,” the QUATERA 700 comes with ZEISS’ patented QUATTRO Pump. This operates via four syringe-like chambers to provide synchronous exchange of infusion and aspiration. Further, sensors measure actual irrigation and aspiration flow and automatically compensate for leakage to maintain the preset intraocular pressure (IOP).
Dr. Ganesh noted that “the console is also integrated with the IOL Master 700, Callisto and operating microscope ARTEVO 800 to provide a complete surgical cockpit;” it works as a single sterile OR dashboard that integrates patient data from other systems and the microscope view and makes it available in real-time for the OR staff. He also described the power on demand (POD) and advance pulse modulation (APM) settings which are designed to reduce effective phaco time and total phaco energy used during the surgery.
Survey Says…
The study aimed to evaluate the surgical performance of the new QUATERA 700 with membrane pumps in different grades of cataract by a single experienced surgeon and compare this with the Centurion (Alcon) and Signature Pro (Johnson & Johnson Vision) phaco systems, shared Dr. Ganesh. The primary endpoint was chamber stability at various parameters and incidence of surge and fluid turnover per case; secondary endpoints were effective phaco time and total phaco time, time taken per case according to nucleus grade, and incidence of intraoperative complications.
The study included 180 non-consecutive eyes, which were randomized and divided evenly into three groups. Patients were aged 40-75 and were suitable to undergo phaco with foldable PC-IOL implantation (power range +16 to +24 diopters).
During his presentation, he shared surgical videos comparing the three devices: “The speed of surgery is faster with the QUATERA … both the Centurion and Signature Pro, you can see the dense partition in the chamber and you can the expansion and retraction of the pupil, whereas with the QUATERA it’s extremely stable,” said Dr. Ganesh.
“The QUATERA was designed with maximum safety and efficiency without any compromise … most of the other machines, they may have safety but reduce the efficiency and they compromise,” he continued, adding that the QUATERA 700’s innovative QUATTRO pump provides chamber stability at even the highest flow and vacuum rates.
“What excites me the most about the QUATERA 700 is the QUATTRO pump’s synchronized fluidics system and how I can have both the highest levels of efficiency, while maintaining an extremely stable chamber, independent of IOP,” said Dr. Ganesh via a press release.
“ZEISS is committed to bringing our latest innovations to the United States, and the ZEISS QUATERA 700 is a great example of how integrated technology can drive efficiency in ophthalmology,” Euan S. Thomson, PhD, president of Ophthalmic Devices and head of the Digital Business Unit for Carl Zeiss Meditec, said in a press release. “Together with our ZEISS Medical Ecosystem and surgical planning software, we believe this fully connected and integrated approach will help set new standards for patient care and clinical management.”
