Patent ID: 8764699

Claim:
A phacoemulsification system for regulating fluid flow and energy into an eye during ocular surgery, comprising: a handpiece; and a control console configured to provide phaco power to the handpiece, irrigation fluid to an eye, and an aspiration source for removing fluid from the eye; a microprocessor configured to establish a correlation between a fluid flow through the eye, the phaco power, and heat generation in the eye without measuring fluid temperatures; the microprocessor configured to calculate an energy balance within the eye over a predetermined period of time, the calculation based upon a cumulative amount of phaco power delivered over the predetermined period of time and a cumulative amount of fluid removed from the eye over the predetermined period of time; the system configured to modulate at least one of a phaco power level, a phaco duty cycle, and the fluid flow through the eye, the modulation being based upon the energy balance.