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Updated: Feb 4, 2026
Author Spotlight: Demonstrating Systematic Endobronchial Ultrasound to New Endoscopists
Published on: August 11, 2023
ULTRASOUND IN VITRECTOMY: An Alternative Approach to Traditional Vitrectomy Techniques
Stanislao Rizzo1, Gualtiero Fantoni2,3,4, Dario Pasquale Mucciolo1
1Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Purpose:
To study a prototype of an ultrasound-based vitrector, and to try to understand the physical phenomena underlying this new technology.
Methods:
We tested the ultrasound-based vitrector prototype (UV) (ultrasonically-driven handpiece obtained from a modified version of the Alcon CONSTELLATION Vision System [Alcon]) using an automatic experimental setup. Balanced saline solution (BSS) and vitreous (from fresh postmortem enucleated porcine eyes) flow rates were analyzed using three different tips.
Results:
In general, BSS solution flow rates increased with increasing aspiration levels and decreased when we used % US power. Vitreous flow rates were influenced by aspiration levels, % US power, and ultrasound-related phenomena: cavitation phenomenon and "jet streaming."
Conclusion:
Ultrasound-based vitrectomy may represent an important alternative to traditional vitrectomy. Such a tool, capable of liquefying and excising the vitreous body using ultrasound, could overcome all the limits of the guillotine-based technique (GV). Knowledge of the physical phenomena underlying ultrasound-based technology is a necessary prerequisite for further development of this new technology.
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