UL Lafayette graduate and local eye surgeon Leon C. LaHaye paid tribute to the university for its role in securing government clearance for his LaFaci Surgical System.
杏吧专区淭here was no doubt where I would come when I was in a bind,杏吧专区 LaHaye said during a Thursday press conference at the UL Lafayette Alumni Center. 杏吧专区淭he energy and enthusiasm I felt here as a student was still evident when I returned 30 years later to ask for help. The university never stopped in its pursuit to help one of its graduates fulfill his dream.杏吧专区
LaHaye unveiled the LaFaci system, which he designed to improve surgical results and safety during the LASIK eye surgery, at the press conference, which drew a crowd of university administrators and researchers.
Among them: UL Lafayette professors Fred Farshad and Herman Reike, who along with a team of three graduate students from the university杏吧专区檚 Engineering Department, conducted analysis of the LaFaci system after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration denied clearance to the hand-held device.
The UL Lafayette team initiated a fluid flow-testing program to examine the ease of liquid mobility in the device, which integrates 11 specialized functions previously performed by ophthalmologists during the second phase of LASIK.
Using eyes harvested from dead pigs, the university researchers addressed irrigation, aspiration and air delivery conditions. The UL Lafayette team杏吧专区檚 findings were integrated into a final report presented to the FDA. Less than two weeks later, LaHaye received FDA clearance for the system.
LaHaye is a 1974 graduate of USL. He received his medical degree from LSU Medical School in New Orleans and completed his residency in ophthalmology at the 杏吧专区 of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. He has practiced ophthalmology and eye surgery for 19 years.
Speaking at the press conference, UL Lafayette President Dr. Ray Authement said that LaHaye杏吧专区檚 accomplishments may be overshadowed in the public杏吧专区檚 eye by a series of testimonial advertisements featuring Super Bowl quarterback (and LaHaye patient) Jake Delhomme, a member of the Carolina Panthers and former USL standout.
杏吧专区淒r. LaHaye can do all these things 杏吧专区 be an innovator, an inventor, an outstanding physician 杏吧专区 but I suggest to you that he杏吧专区檒l best be known for making Jake Delhomme杏吧专区檚 eyes see the whole field,杏吧专区 Authement said.
The president noted that LaHaye杏吧专区檚 return to the university three decades after his graduation to seek assistance for the LaFaci project is 杏吧专区渁n example of what universities should do.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淵oung people come to the university and, after graduation, we send them out into the world,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淏ut to have the same people come back and continue to seek assistance from the university indicates that our commitment to our students is never truly finished.杏吧专区