Burkhard Dick (born 1963 in Brake,

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

) is a German ophthalmologist who has specialized in refractive and cataract surgery. With his many contributions to the scientific literature on this topic, he is considered one of the pioneers of employing the

femtosecond laser Mode locking is a technique in optics by which a laser can be made to produce pulses of light of extremely short duration, on the order of picoseconds (10−12 s) or femtoseconds (10−15 s). A laser operated in this way is sometimes r ...

cataract surgery Cataract surgery, also called lens replacement surgery, is the removal of the natural lens (anatomy), lens of the human eye, eye that has developed a cataract, an opaque or cloudy area. The eye's natural lens is usually replaced with an artific ...

. In the "Power List 2024" by the publication The Ophthalmologist, Burkhard Dick was listed among the world's most 100 most influential ophthalmologists.

Biography

Dick attended high school in his hometown of Brake and graduated in 1983. After studying medicine at

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...

, he began his specialization as an eye surgeon. As a board certified ophthalmologist, Dick in 1996 joined the eye hospital of the University of Mainz where he became a full professor in 2003. In 2006, Dick was appointed chair of the department of ophthalmology at the

University of Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

and director of the University Eye Clinic. He turned the clinic into one of the surgical centers with the highest number of cataract patients treated with the femtosecond laser, a new technology which has the potential to improve the precision of cataract surgery which is the most frequent surgical intervention in North America and Europe. Burkhard Dick has been president of the German Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (DGII) from 2016 to 2020; currently he acts as the society's treasurer. Dick is an elected council member and the Secretary (since 2023) of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) and chairman of the society's Research Committee.

Scientific contributions

Dick has published a large number of scientific articles and book chapters on various issues in eye surgery. He has informed the medical community about his experience with the femtosecond laser in special cases like patients with

Marfan syndrome Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a multi-systemic genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue. Those with the condition tend to be tall and thin, with dolichostenomelia, long arms, legs, Arachnodactyly, fingers, and toes. They also typically ha ...

, with advanced cataracts, in pediatric cataracts and in individuals who had undergone corneal refractive surgery or are suffering from corneal disease. Dick is also considered a pioneer in

Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery Micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) is the latest advance in surgical treatment for glaucoma, which aims to reduce intraocular pressure by either increasing outflow of aqueous humor or reducing its production. MIGS comprises a group of surgical ...

(MIGS) and has lectured widely on the advantages of this technique to treat glaucoma as well as on the limitations of some of these implants.with Ronald D. Gerste and Tim Schultz: Miniaturization in Glaucoma Monitoring and Treatment: A Review of New Technologies That Require a Minimal Surgical Approach.Ophthalmol Ther 2019 Mar;8(1):19-30. He is the editor of two recent books that have become standard works for eye surgeons globally, on the femtosecond laser in ophthalmology and, published in 2022, on cataract surgery in difficult situations (see publication list).

Entrepreneurship

Both as an innovator and as an investor, Burkhard Dick is involved in the development of new technologies like the miniaturized sensor to measure the intraocular pressure in

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...

patients and methods to reduce potentially eye damaging blue light exposure of digital devices.

Memberships

* American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) * European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) * American-European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery (AECOS) * International Intra-Ocular Implant Club (IIIC) * European Vision Institute Clinical Research Network (EVICR) * German Ophthalmological Society (, DOG) * Professional Association of German Ophthalmologists (, BVA) * German Society for intraocular lens implantation (, DGII)

External links

YouTube channel of the University Eye Hospital Bochum with videos of different procedures in cataract surgery.

Article in "Ophthalmology Times" on Burkhard Dick's surgery of infants with cataract.

Profile on the website of the American-European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery

Selected publications

* with JL Alio, RH Osher: ''Cataract surgery : advanced techniques for complex and complicated cases'' Springer Nature, Cham (Switzerland) 2022. * with RD Gerste: ''Future Intraocular Lens Technologies.'' In: ''Ophthalmology'', published online December 26, 2020. * ''Future perspectives of the femtosecond laser in anterior segment surgery.'' ''In: ''Der Ophthalmologe''. May 2020;117(5):431-436. * ''Small-aperture strategies for the correction of presbyopia.'' In: ''Current Opinion in Ophthalmology.'' 2019 Jul;30(4):236-242. * with T. Schultz: ''Influence of the vitreolenticular interface in pediatric cataract surgery.'' In: ''Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.'' 2019 Mar;45(3):388. * with T. Schultz, RD Gerste: ''Femtosecond Laser in Ophthalmology''. Thieme Publishing, New York 2018, . * with Federica Gualdi, Luca Gualdi et al.:''Femto Laser Cataract Surgery''. Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishing, New Delhi 2014, . * with Oliver Schwenn: ''Viscoelastics in Ophthalmic Surgery.'' Springer, Heidelberg 2000, . * with T. Schultz: ''Primary posterior laser-assisted capsulotomy.'' In: ''Journal of Refractive Surgery.'' 30, 2014,128–133. * with T. Schultz: ''Laser-assisted cataract surgery in small pupils using mechanical dilation devices.'' In: ''Journal of Refractive Surgery.'' 29, 2013, 858–862. * with I. Conrad-Hengerer, F. H. Hengerer, T. Schultz: ''Effect of femtosecond laser fragmentation on effective phacoemulsification time in cataract surgery.'' In: ''Journal of Rrefractive Surgery.'' 28,2012,879–883.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick, Burkhard German ophthalmologists 1963 births Living people