System to identify viscosity of aspirated material during ophthalmic surgery

1. An ophthalmic surgical system for detecting a change in a viscosity of a material being aspirated from an eye, comprising:

at least a control module connected to an aspiration pump, and a flow meter connected to the control module and the aspiration pump, the flow meter for providing a flow rate of material aspirated from the eye by the aspiration pump;

a surgical handpiece connected to the aspiration pump and the control module to be inserted into the eye during surgery; and

wherein the control module, during surgery, detects a step change in the flow rate of material aspirated from the eye and the control module, based only on the detected step change without the use of any data stored in the control module prior to surgery, further causes the surgical system to alert a surgeon that a change in viscosity of the material being aspirated has been detected indicating that the handpiece has moved from a material of a first viscosity to a material of a second viscosity.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the system further includes a display for providing a visual alert to the surgeon.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the system further includes an audio source for audibly alerting the surgeon.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the system further includes a foot controller for providing tactile feedback of the alert to the surgeon.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the surgical handpiece includes a vibration circuit for providing tactile feedback of the alert to the surgeon.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the surgical handpiece includes visual feedback of the alert to the surgeon.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the alert further indicates, upon the detection of the change in viscosity, whether the handpiece has moved from the material of the first viscosity to the material of the second viscosity or vice versa.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the material of the first viscosity is balanced-salt-solution and the material of the second viscosity is vitreous.

9. A method of alerting a surgeon when a viscosity of material being aspirated through a surgical handpiece has been detected, the method comprising the steps of:

aspirating material from an eye with an aspiration pump;

detecting a flow rate of the aspirated material with a flow meter associated with the aspiration pump;

determining if a step change in the flow rate has been detected with a control module connected to the flow meter;

providing an alert to the surgeon, based only on when the detected step change in the flow rate has been detected without the use of any data stored in the control module prior to surgery, that a change in viscosity of the material being aspirated has been detected.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of providing the alert is provided by one or more of a display, an audio source, the surgical handpiece, and a foot controller.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of providing the alert includes informing the surgeon whether the surgical handpiece has moved from a material of a first viscosity to a material of a second viscosity or vice versa.