Real World Assessment Of Sterile Technician Console Interactions During Cataract Surgery Set-Up: Impact Of The Next Generation Of Phacoemulsification System

To quantify and compare sterile technician console touchpoints during console set‑up for cataract surgery using UNITY™ Vitreoretinal Cataract System (UNITY VCS) vs CENTURION™ with ACTIVE SENTRY™ in a prospective, real‑world, multicenter, pre–post, time‑and‑motion study; exploratory endpoint assessing whether system design reduces interaction burden and streamlines surgery set-up activities.

Two ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) located in Atlanta, GA and Los Angeles, CA.

A total of 303 subjects were included; procedures were performed by 4 surgeons at 2 US ASCs in adults with uncomplicated age‑related cataracts. Video observation captured set‑up activities before and after UNITY VCS implementation. Console interaction count was defined as the number of times the sterile technician touched the console or handpiece to advance readiness to the “Ready for Surgery” screen; unrelated tasks (e.g., activities performed on the console tray) were excluded. A mixed‑effects Poisson regression was used with random intercepts for site and technician, adjusting for technician experience and non‑continuous set‑up. Sensitivity analyses were conducted excluding cases with console errors or a technician swap during set-up.

In mixed‑effects Poisson regression (random intercepts for site and technician) adjusted for technician experience and non‑continuous sterile‑field set‑up, UNITY VCS was associated with a statistically significant reduction in set‑up console interactions vs CENTURION (IRR 0.61; 95% CI 0.50–0.74; p<0.001), indicating an estimated 39% lower interaction count. Covariates showed similar distributions between arms, and results were consistent in sensitivity analyses excluding cases with console errors or technician swaps.

Compared with the CENTURION platform, UNITY VCS reduced sterile‑technician console interactions during set‑up, indicating a more streamlined workflow. UNITY VCS’s one-step set-up capability offers fewer touchpoints and may lower cognitive/physical effort and variability in preparation. Together with previously reported ~52‑second faster surgery turnover, these findings suggest UNITY VCS can simplify preparation and support operating‑room efficiency.