I recently had the honour of co-chairing London’s first artificial iris wetlab course, hosted at our facility at Western Eye Hospital with expert teaching by my colleagues Hatch Mukherjee, Mani Bhogal and Nizar Din. Damage to the iris causes altered appearance, light sensitivity, loss of depth of focus and reduced vision, often in young patients following injury. An artificial iris can significantly improve quality of life and vision.
Before adopting a new technique, studies show that wetlab simulation improves surgical outcomes in patients. Not only is this a great opportunity to practice, but also share essential tips and knowledge between surgeons.
Big thank you to Joe Frazer and Christian Oster from Kestrel and HumanOptics for providing artificial irises, intraocular lenses, sutures and other essential equipment, and John Emson from Altomed for providing SimulEYE surgical eye models and surgical instruments for the training.
We had a full house of enthusiastic consultants and senior fellows from all over the UK, who gave fantastic feedback. It was hard to get them off the microscopes to take the group photo! Huge thank you also to Kerry Forde our Deputy General Manager and Rahila Zakir, our Clinical Director of Ophthalmology at Western Eye and passionate simulation teacher, for ensuring the day ran smoothly.
Next up I’m looking forward to leading the DALK/PK corneal transplantation wetlab at the Egyptian Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery in Cairo on 5th November, with Resitha Airey, Prof Yehia Salah, Rahila Zakir, Evelyn Mensah, Faisal Ahmed, and Robin Hamilton! Book your places soon!