Accommodative Liquid Lens Filling Console
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current cataract surgery methods for implanting intraocular lenses (IOLs) rely on estimates for filling lenses with fluid, leading to imprecision in refractive power adjustment, which can result in suboptimal vision and increased risk of visual side effects such as glares and halos.
Innovation Solution
A biometrically guided filling system using a handheld tool and filling console that connects to a disposable fluid cartridge, equipped with sensors and optical imagery feedback, to precisely control the filling of accommodative liquid lenses, ensuring accurate refractive power adjustment and minimizing residual bubbles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional estimation methods are used for filling lenses with fluid, then the surgical procedure is simpler and faster, but the refractive power adjustment becomes imprecise leading to suboptimal vision
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a closed-loop feedback system where sensors monitor the filling process in real-time and provide data to a control system. This feedback mechanism allows precise control of fluid volume injected into the lens, enabling accurate refractive power adjustment while maintaining system manageability through automated control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical estimation and estimation-based filling with an automated system that uses sensors (optical, acoustic, or other detection devices) and electronic control to measure and control fluid volume. This substitution of mechanical/manual processes with sensor-based measurement systems achieves precise refractive power adjustment.
2Reliability
If manual estimation is used for lens filling, then the surgical time is shorter, but visual side effects such as glares and halos increase
Solution Approach 1:
Real-time feedback from sensors during the filling process allows the system to automatically adjust fluid volume to achieve optimal refractive power, thereby improving vision quality and reducing visual side effects like glares and halos. The closed-loop control ensures reliable visual outcomes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts filling parameters (fluid volume, injection rate, pressure) based on real-time sensor feedback to optimize lens refractive power. This dynamic parameter adjustment ensures high vision quality while the automation reduces overall surgical time compared to manual estimation methods.
3Manufacturing precision
If a biometrically guided filling system with real-time feedback is implemented, then refractive power adjustment precision is improved, but device complexity and initial cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex manual manipulation and estimation with an automated filling console that uses sensors (optical, acoustic, or other detection devices) and electronic control systems. This substitution achieves high manufacturing precision in lens filling while consolidating complexity into an integrated automated platform.
Solution Approach 2:
The filling system is designed to be self-regulating through automated feedback control, where the system monitors its own performance and adjusts fluid volume without requiring complex manual intervention. This self-service capability maintains high precision while managing system complexity through automation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides real-time feedback and closed-loop control for optimal lens filling, reducing errors in refractive power adjustment and improving vision outcomes by allowing for precise customization of lens power and accommodation, thereby minimizing visual side effects.
Implementation Method 1
a pump for driving fluid from the reservoir to the port
Implementation Method 2
a sensor measuring the pressure inside the tip of the ALL
Implementation Method 3
an optical calibration console (OCC) may give real-time feedback to the filling console
Data Source
AI summary
Advances in filling apparatus, handheld tools, surgical techniques and intraoperative biometry for implanting and adjusting an accommodative liquid lens are disclosed. The lens may be attached to or retained within a handheld surgical tool, which can be fluidly connectable to a filling console to fill the lens with a liquid. In various embodiments, a filling console facilitates aspirating liquid out of the lens in order to ensure the absence of residual bubbles and filling of the lens with fluid during surgery, as well as during post-operative adjustments to the lens. Actuated by the surgeon, the filling console can aspirate fluid from the lens and inject fluid into the lens following insertion thereof.