ROCHESTER, N.Y., Oct. 18 -- Bausch & Lomb has approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its Active Eyetracking System in the United States. The eyetracker, which has been commercially available outside the United States since 1994, is a high-speed image processing system that tracks movement of the eye during laser surgery. The new system will be incorporated into all Bausch & Lomb's Technolas 217A excimer lasers sold after November 2001.
The Technolas 217A excimer laser with the Active Eyetracking System calculates both the speed of tracking and overall system reaction time, using its active feedback scanner mechanism, prior to firing the laser pulse. Displacement of laser pulses due to eye movement during surgery can cause a variation in ablation patterns, with the potential for under-correction and induced astigmatism.