Ultrasonic vitrectomy — an alternative technique to presently used mechanical procedures

The liquification of the corpus vitreum by ultrasound is a promising new alternative to presently used mechanical methods of vitrectomy. With regard to the duration time of insonation, as well as to the ultrasonic intensity, there exist thresholds, the exceeding of which causes a discontinuous breakdown of the vitreous frame in a spherical zone around the transducer tip which can be verified by ultrasonic pulse echo methods. Viscosity measurements showed that the vitreous isonified in this area has almost the same viscosity as water whereas its optical transparency remains unchanged. The dependence of the diameter of the liquified zone on insonation time was measured.