FDA Gives Clearance To New STAAR Surgical Tool


The FDA has announced that it is giving clearance to STARR surgical to market its new, minimally invasive system called Epiphany.

STARR surgical are a market leader in developing minimally invasive techniques for corrective eye surgery. Their newest tool, Epiphany, is an injector system to be used with both the three piece and elastimide NTIOL (new technology intraocular lenses). It is said that the introduction of this injection system to the market will usher in a new era of corrective eye surgery. The Epiphany system will be used by ophthalmologists to correct the vision of people who have cataracts. After removal of the clouded lens (cataract) a new synthetic lens is inserted using a delivery system. STARR is the major company to manufacture these lenses and with the advent of Epiphany, they can now begin to develop preloaded lenses. This will make cataract surgery not only faster, but also easier and safer to perform.

It is the hope that Epiphany will evolve to become the best stand alone system for inserting these synthetic lenses. It is already unique in the fact that it can be used with either a twist or push insertion technique.

The preloaded delivery systems are still not approved for use in America, however they have proved very successful in the Japanese market. The company hopes that the approval of the Epiphany system will allow them to further expand their range of products in the USA, hopefully paving the way for a preloaded IOL (intraocular lens) delivery system.

The advantages to using the Epiphany system are –

  • Insertion through a 2.8mm incision
  • Single use – ensures sterility
  • Planar delivery system – very controlled

It is hoped that within the next few years preloaded IOL delivery systems will become the standard in cataract surgery. They ensure a fast, safe and effective method for IOL insertion.

12th October 2009

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