Following an internationally successful randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing the DSLT with standard SLT, the first ever commercial device in the UK, the ‘Eagle’, has been installed and is in use at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.
This contactless, automated laser treatment from BELKIN Vision applies 120 trans-scleral laser shots to the trabecular meshwork, without need for a gonioscopy contact lens. Gaze tracking and automated delivery promise greater efficiencies in clinic and with it, the potential to reduce treatment backlogs.
Recent changes to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, which mandated that SLT be offered as primary treatment of choice for all patients with ocular hypertension and open angle glaucoma, following the outcomes of the LiGHT trial, has rapidly increased demand. DSLT offers a solution that is quicker and avoids the discomfort of contact lens use.
Professor Gus Gazzard, who participated in the RCT trial for DSLT, is the first in the UK to receive delivery, commenting:
“I’ve high hopes that this will not only allow us to rapidly expand the number of SLT patients we can treat and cut waiting times, but will also be more comfortable for the patients.”
Dealing with backlog and easing access to care
With the introduction of DSLT to Moorfields, the team there hope to see significant gains in terms of time savings that will permit expansion of access to more patients. Without the need for gonioscopy, more clinicians can perform the treatment thereby expanding access to more patients.
DSLT on the conference circuit
Prof. Gazzard will be presenting case studies of DSLT at the World Glaucoma Congress in Rome, June 2023, alongside other European clinicians, as an opportunity to hear more about this potentially practice-changing technology.
