title: Experimental and Numerical Determination of the Local Temperature Distribution during Phacoemulsification and Comparison of Different Surgery Situations within Enucleated Porcine Eyes.
abstract: Phacoemulsification, a common treatment for cataract, is accompanied by cell damage at the corneal endothelium. Thermal exposure during treatment has been considered a reason for this damage, but a thorough experimental and theoretical assessment of the local temperature distribution inside the eye had not yet been conducted. Measurements in porcine eyes and a finite-element simulation enabled such an assessment and localized the highest temperature rise very close to the probe. The results described in this study indicate that a distance of 1 mm between the probe and the endothelium should be maintained during treatment as a safety margin, especially when fluid flow is blocked. The highest measured temperature rise with surgically reasonable system settings and unblocked fluid flow was 1.11°C. The finite-element simulation described here is able to calculate the temperature rise at the endothelium and could serve as a tool for comparing arbitrary surgical situations with respect to thermal exposure of the endothelium.
authors.affiliation: Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany. Electronic address: steffen.buschschlueter@ptb.de.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buschschlüter
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Augenheilkunde, Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Klinikum, Neubrandenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: von Eicken
authors.affiliation: Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Augenheilkunde, Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Klinikum, Neubrandenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Höh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D015353:Eye Enucleation; D019220:High-Energy Shock Waves; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008954:Models, Biological; D018918:Phacoemulsification / Q000379:methods*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D013552:Swine
keywords: Cell damage; Endothelium; Finite-element simulation; Phacoemulsification; Temperature increase