"The eyes have it"

In the Biotechnology in Medicine class that the four of us are taking, we are now reading the book Better by Atul Gawande. A fascinating read, it traces many developments in medicine and makes the ultimate observation that the focus of doctors and, in fact, the entire field of biotechnology, should be improvement. Noting this theme, I was struck by this article in the Economist which discusses rather recent developments in a type of surgery that has existed for more than half a century: replacing cataracts ("lenses darkened by cloudy imperfections") with artificial lenses. 

Cataracts affects many, many people each year. While the first cataract replacement surgeries were performed using perspex lenses, they have more recently been replaced with silicone lenses. Yet, as Gawande so astutely notes, medicine should always be prepared to change with the times. 

As such, it should not be surprising that this field of artificial vision has begun to change as well. For instance, we have recently seen the introduction of microsurgery, which allows the insertion of a lens through a 2 mm cut as opposed to an 11 mm cut. Unsurprisingly, this dramatic change allows for far shorter recovery times for patients. 

Aside from simply noting the obvious advantages of a smaller incision, it is significant to understand exactly how this change was made possible. For one, there was the innovative use of an ultrasound probe to remove the lens by breaking up the damaged lens into an emulsion. Soon thereafter, an injectable lens is implanted by rolling it up and allowing it to unfold within the narrow slit. 

What I found most interesting about these innovations is that, according to this article, these tools have actually been available for some time. In fact, the only real new innovation was combining them into "one snazzy little box" which can do all three steps. 

 I was also intrigued by the final paragraph of this article, which discusses what ophthamologists and lens-making companies would most like to achieve-- that is, a lens that can focus in both near and far distances, like a healthy eye. I think that it is important to note that in all fields of biotechnology, artificial vision not withstanding, innovation is critical. Innovation not simply in the sense of scientific research and discovery, but in terms of marketing and design so as to ensure to spread of new technologies as they are developed. 

link: http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/tm/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10012901