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EW SHOW DAILY 22 ASCRS News Saturday, April 14, 2018 by Liz Hillman EyeWorld Staff Writer is the laser of our field. This is it," Dr. Slade said. Other afternoon sessions cov- ered the challenges and opportuni- ties for optimizing reimbursement as well as up-to-date public market activity. To close out the meeting, executives shared insights on var- ious topics—private equity, con- solidation, landscape of healthcare models for providers, digitalization/ telehealth, and more—in the Mas- ters of Industry session. The session was moderated by Jim Mazzo, Carl Zeiss Meditec, with participants Michael Ball, Alcon (Fort Worth, Texas), Robert Dempsey, Shire (Lexington, Massachusetts), Tom Frinzi, Johnson & Johnson Vision (Santa Ana, California), Dr. Link, William Meury, Allergan (Dublin, Ireland), Ludwin Monz, PhD, Carl Zeiss Meditec, and Tracy Valorie, Bausch + Lomb, (Bridgewater, New Jersey). EW Editors' note: The speakers at OIS@ ASCRS have financial interests related to their respective companies. T he afternoon sessions of OIS@ASCRS began with a "fireside chat" between William Link, PhD, Ver- sant Ventures (San Francis- co), and Malvina Eydelman, MD, Division of Ophthalmic and Ear, Nose and Throat Devices, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Washington, D.C. Dr. Eydelman, whose medical specialty is ophthalmology, dis- cussed a variety of topics, from how she came to the FDA to the direc- tion under FDA Administrator Scott Gottlieb, MD, to new programs that the administration has implement- ed. One, which is a couple of years old, Dr. Eydelman said is the early feasibility study program, which she explained is intended to bring innovation back to the U.S. "It allows us to tap people who have a concept for a brand new device … or who have a device but want to try it in a different indica- tion and want to start clinical trials but don't have all the preclinicals done," Dr. Eydelman explained, adding that ophthalmology has been leading efforts in this program in many ways. Another program is the break- through technology designation, which is a little over a year old. This program "revolutionizes" how the FDA's review process can be expedit- ed. The first ophthalmic device to be given this designation—IDx-DR (IDx, Coralville, Iowa), software that uses artificial intelligence to detect diabetic retinopathy—was approved by the FDA this week, making it through the review process to mar- ket in 85 days, Dr. Eydelman said. It is the first FDA-approved medical de- vice to use artificial intelligence for this purpose and, as Dr. Eydelman put it, the first FDA-approved device that "reaches a diagnosis without physician input." Another session took a look at the 20-year history of the femtosec- ond laser in ophthalmology, inno- vation that brought the technology to where it is today, and future, disruptive applications for it. "We've had some incremental change in femto over the last few years, but perhaps we are about to go into a more disruptive era," said moderator Gilbert Kliman, MD, InterWest Partners (Menlo Park, Cal- ifornia), before Tibor Juhasz, PhD, Irvine, California, discussed how the femtosecond laser works, its early years in ophthalmology, and where he sees it going in the future. Representatives or consultants for several companies spoke about femtosecond laser technologies and current and future applications. Dirk Muelhoff, Carl Zeiss Meditec (Jena, Germany), spoke about the VisuMax laser and ReLEx SMILE (small incision lenticule extraction). Nicholas Curtis, LENSAR (Orlan- do, Florida), discussed how its laser platform was moving back toward making progress for presbyopia treatments in the crystalline lens. Mark Packer, MD, Keranova (Saint Etienne, France), described how femtosecond laser technology that uses a phase-masked matrix ap- proach could perform incisions and "photoemulsification" to allow for irrigation/aspiration without the need for ultrasound energy and on a single machine without the need to move the patient. George Waring IV, MD, Perfect Lens (Irvine, Califor- nia), discussed the use of a femtosec- ond laser to perform refractive index shaping on any optical surface, including already implanted IOLs and human tissue. In terms of recent growth rates for the femtosecond laser in oph- thalmology, Stephen Slade, MD, Dallas, said he thinks the growth rate and adoption of this technology is positive. "I'm happy with the rate, and when you add in SMILE and femto flaps, this is the laser, not the excimer … not the argon … but this OIS features a chat with the FDA, history of femto and its future Dr. Eydelman discusses new programs implemented by the FDA in a chat with Dr. Link. Get surgical essentials at this year's meeting S urgeons at any point in their career can benefit from sessions that are part of the new Essentials track. The Essentials track is used to indicate sessions that focus on fundamental and indispensable concepts for surgeons. The ses- sions are designed for ophthalmologists of all experience and skill levels. Attendees will discover innovative, groundbreaking techniques and pearls to bring back to their practice. Sessions from the track span over several days of the meeting to accommodate varying schedules. Here is a sampling of sessions that are part of the Essentials track: • Retinal Essentials for Cataract and Refractive Surgery (today from 1:00–2:30 p.m.) • Nailing the Best IOL Refractive Outcomes: Let the Experts Update You (today from 3:00–4:30 p.m.) • Surgical Essentials: Getting You Out of Trouble in Cataract Sur- gery (tomorrow from 8:00–9:30 a.m.) • Astigmatism Management in the Time of Cataract Surgery (to- morrow from 1:00–2:30 pm) • Crosslinking Essentials (Monday from 8:00–9:30 a.m.) • Understanding Topography and Corneal Aberrations (Monday from 1:00–2:30 p.m.) • Optimizing Toric IOL Outcomes (Tuesday from 10:00–11:30 a.m.)

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