Bhagwan Mahavir Education Foundation

Use of YAG (Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) Use in Medical Treatment: A cataract is much like a smartie or M&M. It has an outer coating (capsule) and an inner nucleus (the chocolate in the smartie). When an eye surgeon performs cataract/lens surgery the surgeon makes a circular opening in the front facing capsule of the lens and then removes the inner nucleus. The remaining capsular envelope supports the new artificial lens which is typically injected in through the opening in the capsule. Over time the capsule shrinks and wraps around the new lens much like shrink wrap or cling film. As the capsule contains live cells some capsule can develop a layer of new cells that form a frosting on the back surface of the lens. This is called posterior capsular opacification (PCO) or an after-cataract and can occur in up to 10% of patients after lens/cataract surgery. The frosted layer is much like the frosting on a window which can blur the view through the window and similarly through t...