The way forward is technological advancement

  We should never be slaves to technology, but we must always be prepared to consider new approaches in our practices. This month’s cover story looks at new biometry instruments that measure ocular dimensions. As I have pointed out in the article, the accuracy of modern biometry instrumentation in measuring the eye’s dimensions and the postoperative position of the intraocular lens (IOL) in relation to the intraocular anatomy, mean that the term ‘effective lens position’ is out-of-date. We relied on formulas because, 15 or 20 years ago, the technology was not as advanced as it is today. Now, with even mobile phones having more computational power than the largest computers at that time, we can do the direct calculation of the optics of the individual eye using ray tracing without approximations and simplifications. I believe this will be a game changer for IOL power calculation in the future. When I attended my first ESCRS Congress, the majority of delegates attending lectures and instructional courses would rely on printed handouts to help them understand some of the complex procedures that were being highlighted. Now almost every delegate will have a phone or a tablet to help them process information in real-time. As chairperson of the Young Ophthalmologists Committee, I am pleased to see that we are not only following the latest technological advancements but that we are using these technologies to produce better educational and training resources for our members. The new ESCRS Player now has a special section featuring videos from previous YO Programmes. The best videos have been selected and tagged with keywords which makes them easy to navigate. YOs will also benefit from studying the ESCRS Video of the Month and the EuroTimes Eye Contact video interviews with key opinion leaders. I am also glad to note that the YO programme at the annual ESCRS Congress in Copenhagen was very well received by delegates and that it continues to go from strength to strength. We are now looking forward to the 21st ESCRS Winter Meeting which will be held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, from 10-12 February 2017. The Young Ophthalmologists Programme on Friday, 10 February will once again feature the very popular “Learning from the learners” interactive session on cataract surgery for trainees, where young ophthalmologists can present their own video cases. As always, I am very grateful to my co-chairpersons Simonetta Morselli and Kaarina Vannas and our distinguished speakers Richard Packard and Khiun Tjia, who will discuss these cases with the trainees and also present their own pearls of wisdom. Finally, a quick reminder to all of our YOs that the very popular John Henahan Writing Prize is now open for entries for 2017. The topic for the essay is ‘How does commercial interest affect my career?’, a subject which we expect will generate a lot of interest from our trainees. The winner will receive a €1,000 travel bursary to the XXXV Congress of the ESCRS in Lisbon, Portugal. Further information is available on: www.escrs.org Finally, as we look back on the old year and look forward to the next 12 months, I would like to wish all readers of EuroTimes a very happy and prosperous 2017.