2018, the year our new liquefaction technology for vitreous removal has been introduced onto the market.

BAUSCH + LOMB is now celebrating the 35th anniversary of the first disposable guillotine cutter in the world. However, we are sure not so many surgeons may remember the name of our first disposable guillotine cutter that was launched in 1984: it was the MicroVit™ system*.

2 years later, a further innovation came, in this instance through Storz® Ophthalmic Instruments, which later became part of BAUSCH + LOMB. 1986 saw the launch of the lovely DAISY™ system.The name wasn’t inspired by the flower, the real non-romantic origin of this name was the acronym of Digital Aspiration Irrigation System. “It had a lot of firsts for the industry,” said the director of surgical equipment research and development at Bausch + Lomb.

One such first was vacuum-based aspiration. Though this concept was similar to flow-based systems, Moore sees it as a key distinction. The other new feature on the DAISY™ was an ultrasound handpiece that ran at a frequency of 28 kHz versus the higher frequencies used by other units. A further feature was a patented user interface inspired by automated teller machines.

Our engineers at St. Louis, Missouri, never stop researching. In 1992 we launched the first dual linear control technology with the PREMIERE™ system, that had a similar look and user interface to the DAISY, but through rigorous design methods was more reliable and could be used at altitudes above 1500m.

In 1992 the PROTEGE™ arrived and in 1997 the first version of Bausch+Lomb Millennium™ was launched with a modular design.

The subsequent version in 2002 integrated the Millennium Endolaser. The Millennium also was the first BAUSCH + LOMB system that used Windows software. “That wasn’t necessarily of great interest to surgeons at the time, but it allowed us to introduce a platform that could be continually upgraded,” Moore explained.

A great story on innovation, development, work and research that has taken us to the Stellaris® in 2007 with the launch of the wireless foot pedal control and Attune energy management system. Moore describes it as more aesthetically pleasing than its predecessors. New features included the ability to operate using only electricity without the need for compressed gas. This first version of Stellaris® was only available for cataract surgery, but feedback from surgeons and nurses, along

with market research, gave us the inspiration to develop a combined system for the versatile approach of the modern surgery with the Stellaris® PC in 2010. A great combination with innovative developments such as color filters for retina visualization improvement continued the ophthalmology evolution.

*MidLabs version