In recent years, ophthalmic ultrasound systems have enjoyed an
important role in the determination of the design of intraocular
lenses and precise measurement of the anterior segment of the eye for
a variety of refractive surgeries.
Early Problems for Ophthalmic Ultrasound Testing in the form of
Incompatible Hardware
The first use of diagnostic ultrasound for assessing the eye was
observed in 1956, when Mundt and Hughes used ultrasound for A-mode
examination of patients with intraocular tumors and cases of in vitro
enucleated eyes. A flurry of research and development activity
followed, mostly in the U.S. and Europe, and ultrasound techniques
for A-mode diagnosis, B-mode assessment, and biometry were soon
developed.
Many early research activities also met with a lot of difficulties,
such as the existing transducers being typically low-frequency and
unfocused – not consistent with the required resolution for many
ophthalmic fields of operation. Alignment and acoustic coupling with
the eye requires careful attention, especially as minute mistakes in
biometric measurements can lead to deformations. Thus, early
ultrasound systems combined several techniques to form the final
assessments: oscilloscopes were used for generating displays and
photography was used for recording results, rulers were used to
measure echo time intervals on the photographs, and biometric results
were computed using the rulers. All this resulted in a lot of
uncertainty in the results.
With time, however, the field of ophthalmic ultrasound systems has
seen continuous improvement due to advancements in the field of
imaging devices and other complementary instruments, particularly in
the form of the introduction of high-frequency transducers.
Download the Key Points of Technological Innovations done in these
Systems at:
Currently, a variety of highly accurate ophthalmic ultrasound systems
are available in the market. These systems fall into four categories:
A-scan systems, B-scan systems, pachymeters, and ultrasound
biomicroscopy (UBM). A variety of ergonomic options in these systems
are also available, such as portable, on platform, fixed, and
handheld.
With the rising prevalence of eye disorders such as age-related
macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, and cataract, the demand for
ophthalmic ultrasound systems has also increased in the past few
years. The high demand for radiation-free ophthalmic imaging
modalities is a key trend observed in the global ophthalmic
ultrasound systems market.
According to the WHO, cataract was responsible for more than 50%
cases of blindness across the globe in 2010. As the number of
geriatrics increases across the globe, the prevalence of cataract and
age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is expected to see a
continuous rise in the coming years. This will provide significant
growth prospects to the global ophthalmic ultrasound systems market.
However, factors such as the high cost of these systems and high
development cost owing to stringent government regulations influence
the global market.
Global Ophthalmic Ultrasound Systems Market Highly Fragmented
The global ophthalmic ultrasound systems market is fragmented to a
high degree and features a vast number of numerous established as
well as emerging businesses. Some of the key businesses in this
market include Optikon 2000 S.p.A., Ellex Medical Lasers Ltd., Optos
plc, Sonomed Escalon, Quantel Medical, and Reichert, Inc.
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