Two eye treatments for the price of one

Oct 11, 2014

The Straits Times

By Salma Khalik

Get your astigmatism corrected too when you have your cataract or clouded lens removed.

Gleneagles Hospital has bought an $80,000 machine that, coupled with its bladeless cutter, makes the lens placement following the removal of the cataract so accurate that it can even adjust for astigmatism, where vision is distorted or blurred.

Dr Lee Hung Meng, the first ophthalmologist here to use the new system, said it can map the eye, and adjust for any change that occurs when a person lies down. It can also track the centre of the eye, which might shift after the eye is dilated before the procedure. This way, when an incision is made and the new artificial lens is inserted, it will still be centred exactly at the right spot.

Dr Lee added that in eye surgery, a 0.2-0.3mm difference can impact the outcome, making vision less than perfect.

So far 30 patients have benefited from its accuracy since the new machine was acquired in end August. The public sector does not use such equipment currently but the National University Hospital said it is evaluating several machines that provide equally good outcomes. With close to 40,000 cataracts removed here each year - or over 100 every day - cataract surgery is one of the most common eye treatments, especially among older people.

Correcting the problem is simple and quick, taking only about 15 to 20 minutes. Cost varies from about $1,000 for subsidised patients to as high as $9,000 for private patients, for each eye, depending on the lens and method.

Mr S.K. Chan, 59, one of the first to have his cataract done using the new equipment at Gleneagles, said it was well worth the extra $60 for using the new machine. This was for his right eye.

The electronic chip trader said the cataract in his left eye was done earlier without the new device. His verdict: "There's a slight difference. The right eye feels better and has recovered faster."