The Wet Lab at IMO Grupo Miranza, a forerunner in experimental surgery in ophthalmology
With close to a thousand specialists trained there, the Wet Lab at IMO Grupo Miranza is one of the mainstays of the Surgical Department at Miranza’s flagship centre, which also features the latest technology for recording, editing and sharing surgery.
Almost a thousand ophthalmologists have experienced the Wet Lab or Experimental Surgery Area at IMO Grupo Miranza, a groundbreaking centre in Spain in its commitment to this practical training for young specialists in the making, which has already been running for 15 years at its Barcelona headquarters. This Wet Lab specialising in ophthalmology has benefitted students on the IMO (Ocular Microsurgery Institute) master’s programme, together with the Autonomous University of Barcelona, as well as the national and international observers who come to this ophthalmological benchmark every year and, since 2021, the residents that the Institute has started to welcome.
A Wet Lab with the best equipment in ophthalmology
The Wet Lab at IMO Grupo Miranza Barcelona, which is integrated into its Surgical Department, has six training units, with the same microscopes and cutting-edge technological equipment that are used in the Institute’s operating theatres for real surgeries with patients. “At the IMO, we have always been committed to subspecialising in each part of the eye and its disorders in order to achieve the most expert knowledge and the best results, a value that we also reflect in our WetLab by accompanying new generations of ophthalmologists on their training path”, explains Dr Borja Corcóstegui, the medical director at our Barcelona clinic, one of the first ophthalmology centres to have its own Wet Lab in our country.
La operación de catarata, la cirugía oftalmológica más común, es la principal intervención ocular con la que los jóvenes oftalmólogos suelen estar familiarizados al terminar su residencia. Por ello, un área específicamente dedicada al entreno práctico, con ojos que se asemejan al globo ocular humano, ofrece la oportunidad de iniciarse y perfeccionar la técnica en intervenciones de córnea, glaucoma, retina, etc.
Training sophisticated techniques in the Wet Lab
Retinal surgery, with IMO Grupo Miranza’s professionals introducing and developing vitrectomy in Europe, is one of the fields with the greatest learning curve and which benefits the most from access to a Wet Lab space in ophthalmology. Selective corneal transplants, another groundbreaking area featuring IMO Grupo Miranza’s ophthalmologists, as well as procedures for complex glaucoma cases, are further examples of the most valued experimental surgeries.
In any case, the figure of a trainer, who assists trainees throughout the surgical procedure and follows their evolution in a personalised way in the IMO’s Wet Lab, is key to promoting the highest skills and precision in the technique. This adds to the advantage of having the most advanced technology available.
Wet Lab and commitment to audiovisual systems in the operating theatre
In addition to the equipment the Wet Lab features, another aspect which the Surgical Department of IMO Grupo Miranza stands out for in terms of technological equipment are its 3D viewing systems, with a magnified and high-definition screening of the ocular structures during the surgery, as well as the audiovisual systems that record eye surgeries, also in HD. Around 2,500 surgeries are recorded at the Institute every year, with the support of operating theatre technicians who make the necessary adjustments on site to the cameras that are incorporated into the microscopes.
The images obtained are screened in real time within the surgical area to coordinate the patient flow and the supply of materials, according to the progress of the surgeries. Moreover, since they show what the surgeon sees with their own eyes, this audiovisual content conveys a great teaching value, hence making the handling of practical cases accessible in courses and conferences. These cases are selected by the ophthalmologists themselves through a video management system, which makes the edited recordings available at any time and place. Furthermore, the connection between the operating theatres at IMO Grupo Miranza and the centre’s auditorium allows live broadcasting of surgeries to attendees, as well as the possibility of streaming for distance training.
Promoting virtual ophthalmology conferences
In order to foster links with the scientific community, the audiovisual team also boasts software that allows online conferences to be organised from virtual sets. National and international speakers have the opportunity to participate simultaneously, while fostering multicentre cooperation, which is crucial within our network of clinics.
