Microincisional Cataract Surgery

Amar Agarwal, MS, FRCS, FRCOphth is the pioneer of phakonit, which is Phako with a needle incision technology. This technique became popularized as bimanual phaco, microincision cataract surgery (MICS), or microphaco. He was the first to remove cataracts through a 0.7-mm tip with a technique called microphakonit. He has also discovered no anesthesia cataract surgery and FAVIT, a new technique used to remove dropped nuclei. The air pump, which was a simple idea of using an aquarium fish pump to increase the fluid into the eye in bimanual phaco and co-axial phaco, has helped prevent surge. This built the basis of various techniques of forced infusion for small incision cataract surgery. He was also the first to use trypan blue for staining epiretinal membranes and publishing the details in his 4-volume textbook of ophthalmology. He has also discovered a new refractive error called aberropia. He was the first to do a combined surgery of microphakonit (700 micron cataract surgery) with a 25-gauge vitrectomy in the same patient, thus having the smallest incisions possible for cataract and vitrectomy. He is also the first surgeon to implant a new mirror telescopic IOL (LMI) for patients suffering from age-related macular degeneration. He was also the first in the world to implant a glued IOL. In this technique, a PC IOL is fixed in an eye without any capsules using fibrin glue. The Malyugin ring for small pupil cataract surgery was also modified by him as the Agarwal modification of the Malyugin ring for miotic pupil cataract surgeries with posterior capsular defects. Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital has also done (for the first time) an Anterior segment transplantation in a 4-month-old child with anterior staphyloma. Professor Agarwal has received many awards for his work done in ophthalmology, the most significant being the Barraquer Award and the Kelman Award. His videos have won many awards at the film festivals of ASCRS, AAO, and ESCRS. He has also written more than 50 books, which have been published in English, Spanish, and Polish. He also trains doctors from all over the world on phaco, bimanual phaco, LASIK, and retina. He heads Dr. Agarwal's Group of Eye Hospitals, which has 30 eye hospitals. He is also Professor of Ophthalmology at Ramachandra Medical College in Chennai, India. Richard L. Lindstrom, MD is founder and attending surgeon at Minnesota Eye Consultants and Adjunct Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota Department of Ophthalmology. He is a board-certified ophthalmologist and internationally recognized leader in corneal, cataract, refractive, and laser surgery. He has been at the forefront of ophthalmology's evolutionary changes throughout his career as a recognized researcher, teacher, inventor, writer, lecturer, and highly acclaimed physician and surgeon. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Lindstrom completed his doctorate degree in medicine in 1972. He conducted research, residency, and fellowship training in cornea at the University of Minnesota and affiliated hospitals. He extended his anterior segment surgery fellowship training at Mary Shiels Hospital in Dallas, TX and was a Heed fellow in glaucoma at University Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT. In 1980, Dr. Lindstrom returned to the University of Minnesota, where he spent 10 years on the faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology, the last 2 as a full professor and the Harold G. Scheie Research Chair. He continues as Adjunct Professor Emeritus, Chairman of the Vision Foundation, and Associate Director of the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank at the University of Minnesota. He entered private practice in 1989 and has led the growth and expansion of Minnesota Eye Consultants, serving as managing partner for 15 years. Dr. Lindstrom is medical director of Sightpath Medical, which includes MSS and Laser Vision. He is also medical director of Refractec. He is Chief Medical Editor of the USA and International editions of Ocular Surgery News, which reaches 82,000 ophthalmologists worldwide. Dr. Lindstrom is past President of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. He serves on the Executive Committee and is the Chair of the ASCRS Foundation. He is also past President of the International Society of Refractive Surgery, the International Intraocular Implant Club, and the International Refractive Surgery Club. He is the Global Education Liaison of the International Society of Refractive Surgery of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He is Chairman and CEO of Lindstrom Restoration, a 3-generation family business. He has endowed funds supporting the University of Minnesota Department of Ophthalmology, the Eye Bank Association of America, and the University of Minnesota Tennis Team. Dr. Lindstrom holds over 35 patents in ophthalmology and has developed a number of solutions, intraocular lenses, and instruments that are used in clinical practices globally. He serves on the Board of Directors of AcuFocus, Inc, TLC Vision, Occulogix, Refractec, the Minnesota Medical Foundation, and Inner City Tennis. A frequent lecturer throughout the world on cornea, cataract, and refractive surgery, he has presented over 40 named lectures and keynote speeches before professional societies in the US and abroad, giving the Blumenthal Memorial Lecture in Jerusalem, Israel; the Benedetto Strampelli Medal Lecture in Rome, Italy; the Albrecht von Garefe-Vorlesung Innovator's Lecture in Nuremberg, Germany; IIIC Medal Lecture in Berlin, Germany; and the Susrata Lecture in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Lindstrom serves on a number of journal editorial boards, including JCRS, JRS, andOphthalmic Surgery. He is the Honorary Editor-in-Chief of the US/Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology. He has co-edited 7 books and published over 350 peer-reviewed journal articles and 60 book chapters. His professional affiliations are extensive, including Liaison of the International Society of Refractive Surgery of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He is the recipient of numerous awards for distinguished service by national and international ophthalmology associations, including the LANS, Barraquer, and the first lifetime achievement award from the International Society of Refractive Surgery in October 1995. He also was honored with another lifetime achievement award in October 2002; the Binkhorst Lecture Award from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery; the Bausch & Lomb Lifetime Achievement Award in April 2005; the Benjamin F. Boyd Humanitarian Award in August 2000; and the Paton Award and NACT from the Eye Bank Association of America.