ESCRS launches online IOL calculator

The ESCRS online IOL calculator is now live at iolcalculator.escrs.org.

The developers’ goal was to create a free online tool that helps ophthalmologists aggregate the major online IOL calculators in one site, allowing them to get multiple results with only one data entry session.

“This will reduce typing mistakes, provide a better view, and allow users to compare results, eventually helping to get better refractive outcomes,” Dante Luis Buonsanti told EuroTimes.

The developers used a technique called web scraping. This is the sort of thing seen when using a hotel or air travel search engine. Web scraping uses bots to extract content from several websites and sends it to a single site. The user can then compare results from seven current calculators: Barrett Universal II, Cooke K6, Evo, Hill-RBF, Hoffer QST, Kane, and PEARL GDS. The site also “scraped” a comprehensive list of IOLs with optimised constants from IOL.com.

“You load all the patient data into the ESCRS calculator one time. Then the site automatically goes to each online IOL calculator, loads the same exact data, and brings back the results. So you have a clean list to compare all results with only one data entry. Since there is no internal calculation, you don’t need to do any updates. If the formula is improved or changed, the calculator will be updated automatically,” Dr Buosanti explained.

The ESCRS online calculator came about when Dr Kenneth Hoffer put Dr Buosanti together with ESCRS board members Drs Oliver Findl, Filomena Ribeiro, and Nino Hirnschall.

“They put an added value to the calculator with their knowledge and helped get all major online formulae on board with the project, allowing us to use their formulae in the new calculator. The ESCRS was the perfect match, and Dr Kenneth Hoffer was a key player in building the project,” Dr Buosanti said.

“When you have surgeries scheduled for next week, you must have the most recent information when choosing the IOL power. This new calculator will revolutionise our daily or weekly calculations. Users can now start using the site. They can see all the features and be ready for the next updates of toric and post-refractive calculations. It will be a great online tool for all ophthalmologists to use, and it is as easy as loading the patient data and choosing the desired IOL,” he added.