Novel Ophthalmic Cutting Device

Mr John Stokes of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust approached NHS Innovations East Midlands to help him develop a Novel Ophthalmic Cutting Device for use in cataract surgery.

Cataracts are the single largest cause of blindness with some 25 million people unnecessarily losing their sight. This figure is increasing by 1.5 million every year with the overwhelming majority who are needlessly suffering from cataract blindness in the developing world. Africa, Asia, China and India account for most cases of cataract blindness with over 1 million children affected in Asia alone. This life crippling, yet curable, condition has a profound effect upon children in the developing world with 50% of children dying within two years of going blind and 90% of those who are blind missing out on school.

During cataract surgery the surgeon creates a circular opening (capsulorrhexis) and this is normally carried out manually using a needle and forceps. The capsulorrhexis ideally should perfectly centred, uniformly circular and continuous. This is one of the most difficult parts of the operation to perform and to learn.

NHS Innovations East Midlands helped to secure Wellcome Trust  support for the project and has received a Translational award of almost £300K. This investment will develop the novel, single use, ophthalmic cutting device which creates an unrivalled precise and predictable capsulorrhexis. Creation of a capsulorrhexis which is of a uniform and predictable size will lessen the chances of complications occurring at this most challenging stage of the operation thus improving morbidity of the patients eye.

The retractable blade protects clinicians and patients from accidental sharps injuries during use and disposal. The blade is deployed at the point of cutting, within the eye and retracted before the instrument is removed from the eye. We will also investigate the feasibility of a locking system for the devices once the blade has been retracted, following the incision.

This particular project truly reflects the great potential of project collaborations between the NHS, industry and organisations such as the Wellcome Trust. The project won the Medical Devices category of the National NHS Innovation Awards held on 3rd December 2009 at the Magic Circle, London and was highly commended at the Da Vinci Healthcare Technology Awards 2008.

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