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Transscleral LED illumination pen

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Abstract

Existing light sources for intraocular illumination are often bulky and expensive and pose a risk for the patient, because light guides are inserted in the eye through incisions and if the tip of these light guides get too close to the retina, the retina can be damaged photochemically within minutes or even seconds. Therefore a new, safe and simple device for intraocular illumination is developed and evaluated for its thermal and photochemical risks to the patient. It consists of a white LED which is integrated into a pen like holder. This device is pressed against the sclera by the physician who seeks for illumination during surgery or for diagnostic purposes. The LED light is transmitted through the sclera without the need for an incision. Considering the relevant standards, the device poses no harm to the patient, and in tests with the authors’ own eyes a sufficient intraocular illumination is reached. The proposed device is quite simple but easy to handle and very gentle for the patient.

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Acknowledgement

Support of the “Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie” (ZIM-Förderkennzeichen ZF4137902AK6) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Correspondence to Martin Hessling.

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Frank Koch and Pia Klante declare to have no conflict of interests. Christian Lingenfelder, Philipp Koelbl and Martin Hessling have filed a German patent application in November 2014.

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Informed consent has been obtained from all individuals included in this study.

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Lingenfelder, C., Koch, F., Koelbl, P. et al. Transscleral LED illumination pen. Biomed. Eng. Lett. 7, 311–315 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13534-017-0039-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13534-017-0039-y

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