In Water Thermal Imaging Comparison of the Alcon Legacy and AMO Sovereign Phacoemulsification Systems

PURPOSE: To compare the temperature profiles of 2 popular phacoemulsification units under similar operating conditions in water. METHODS: The phacoemulsification probes of the Sovereign WhiteStar and Legacy AdvanTec were capped with water-filled test chambers and imaged side-by-side using a thermal camera. The highest temperature of each chamber was measured at several time points after power application. Testing was performed under conditions capable of producing a corneal burn. The Legacy was operated in pulse mode at 15 Hz; a 50% duty cycle; and console power settings of 10, 30, 50 and 100%. The Sovereign was operated at the same console settings in WhiteStar C/F pulse mode at 56 Hz and a 33% duty cycle. RESULTS: Under all conditions (powers of 10, 30, 50 and 100%; with or without irrigation/aspiration flow; and with or without sleeve compression), the Sovereign generated higher temperatures than the Legacy. At irrigation/aspiration flow rates ≥ 5 cc/min, the temperature profiles of the 2 units were indistinguishable. CONCLUSION: The Sovereign WhiteStar ran hotter than the Legacy AdvanTec under a variety of controlled low flow operating conditions. The Sovereign WhiteStar is more likely than the Legacy AdvanTec to produce a corneal burn under low flow conditions.