Cataract surgery is the most common eye surgery, accounting for approximately 70% of all intraocular surgical interventions.

Capsulorhexis is a crucial step in ultrasonic phacoemulsification surgery. Additionally, capsulorhexis plays a significant role in achieving the desired refractive outcome. The primary indicator characterizing the size of the anterior lens capsule opening during capsulorhexis is the diameter of the capsulorhexis. However, this measurement accurately represents only a perfectly circular opening. In practice, anterior lens capsule openings during capsulorhexis can be oval or irregularly shaped, resulting in varying diameters across different meridians.

Professionals of the Department of Glaucoma and Lens Pathology of SI "The Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine" (DMedSc Oleg Peretiagin and junior research scientist Oleksandr Suprun, head of the department, DMedSc, professor Serhii Dmytriev) have developed and implemented a method for determining the area of the anterior lens capsule opening during anterior capsulorhexis. This technique involves digital imaging of the anterior segment of the eye. By using this surgical approach, precise measurements of changes in the anterior lens capsule opening can be made after phacoemulsification of age-related cataracts in patients with different refractive conditions and various associated eye pathologies. The area measurement of capsulorhexis allows assessing the degree of capsulorhexis contraction following phacoemulsification in different ocular pathologies.

Implementation allows adjusting the calculation of the optical power of the IOL (intraocular lens) based on the associated eye pathology in patients. This adjustment aims to achieve the planned target refraction and maximize visual acuity in patients after age-related cataract phacoemulsification.

The photo shows the anterior segment of the eye with highlighted boundaries of the IOL and the anterior capsule opening of the crystalline lens. The green circle in the photograph represents the edge of the optical part of the intraocular lens. The irregularly shaped purple figure corresponds to the edge of the anterior capsule opening of the crystalline lens, which the surgeon created during the ultrasonic phacoemulsification surgery. This figure is formed by closely spaced points connected by straight lines, creating a polygonal ring.

Journal: Nature Communications