In vivo pre-surgical characterization of cataractous lenses

A system for obtaining a pre-surgical characterization of a lens of an eye, the system comprising:

• an optical interferometer adapted to transmit electromagnetic energy into the lens of the eye and to capture reflected signals of that electromagnetic energy for obtaining an electromagnetically-measured value related to the axial thickness of the lens;
• an ultrasound biometer adapted to transmit an ultrasound signal into the lens of the eye and to capture reflected signals of that ultrasound signal for obtaining an ultrasound-measured value related to the axial thickness of the lens;
• and
• a calculation module comprising one or more processors and computer code stored in memory of the system and executable by the one or more processors of the system, the calculation module configured to:
• calculate, when executed by the one or more processors, a relationship value based upon the electromagnetically-measured value related to the axial thickness of the lens and the ultrasound-measured value related to the axial thickness of the lens;
• determine, when executed by the one or more processors, an amount of phacoemulsification energy needed in a phacoemulsification procedure based upon the calculated relationship value;
• and
• generate an output for a physician related to the amount of phacoemulsification energy needed in a phacoemulsification procedure.