The “insight” occurred during a subway ride. When I opened a blister pack of pills, I noticed that there was a great similarity to the anatomy of the cornea and lens of the human eye. When I got home, I assembled the prototype and began my training. During the four years of my medical residency (2004-2008), I performed countless artificial capsulorhexis surgeries, most of them on my daily commute to work.
The idea of developing a simple and practical system for training ophthalmic surgical maneuvers came about in 2004/2005, when I joined the Barraquer Institute (Barcelona – Spain) as a resident doctor in Ophthalmology.
At the beginning of my training as an Ophthalmologist, my respect for the patients I would operate on led me to seek a method that would enable me to develop my first surgical skills. The initial project was very basic, but it helped me a lot!
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Barcelona – Spain
In November 2018, during a conversation with ophthalmologist friends, I presented the training model and was encouraged to complete the project. In the following months, I refined the idea and completed the EYELAB system.
In February 2019, we presented EYELAB at the Congress of the North-Northeast Society of Ophthalmology (Natal) and in April of the same year, at the Congress of the Brazilian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (Brasília). In June, we launched the EYELAB SYSTEM.
Between April and July 2020, EYELAB underwent a process of updating and improving the quality of the material and the number of surgical maneuvers that can be trained in the system. Today, we are delivering the final result of a project that aims to help train those who wish to become ophthalmic surgeons.
In an era of easy access to technology, EYELAB occupies its space because it is practical, economical, effective and portrays very important details of eye surgery in a very faithful way.
This is the one and only true story of EYELAB!
I sincerely hope that EYELAB is as useful to you as it was to me!
A big hug,
Fabiano Brandao
Creator of EYELAB
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of EYELAB is to provide training in surgical maneuvers and ophthalmological procedures.
Other objectives of EYELAB are:
Provide access to a low-cost system for eye surgery training.
Facilitate the teaching of ophthalmic surgery.
Develop surgical skills among medical students, residents and ophthalmologists.
Arouse interest in improving eye surgery.
Seek the development of new surgical maneuvers and techniques that can contribute to the advancement of eye surgery.
Provide training in eye surgery in an everyday environment.
