LED Indirects

[keye]

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Has any one used the Keeler Vantage LED BIOs?? They claim the bulb/LED has 10K light ours, any thoughts of seeing pathology effectively and improved patient comfort with the cooler light??

 

[orbitsurgMD]

Has any one used the Keeler Vantage LED BIOs?? They claim the bulb/LED has 10K light ours, any thoughts of seeing pathology effectively and improved patient comfort with the cooler light??

Unless you regularly and carelessly overvoltage your indirect lamp--which you shouldn't do--the halogen bulbs generally will last you a very long time. I have never had to replace a bulb in either of the Heine 180s I have been using over three years in regular daily use. I have never had to replace other units' bulbs in similar use. They generally last a long time unless you abuse them. That isn't to say I don't like LED illumination; I have a couple of headlamps for surgery that use them, and they are terrific. LEDs in the 3 Watt to 5 Watt range are plenty bright. But the cost difference, especially when combined with "wireless" features makes these BIO units unreasonably expensive IMO. The Keeler wireless Vantage LED unit is street priced around $2650. That is almost $1000 more than a Heine Omega 180, which you can still power from a portable LiIon battery. For residents, that difference could go to a lot of other more important things. Granted, the exchange rate against the dollar is inflating the prices of all of these units ( I remember when residents' pricing for a 180 was under $1K, and I do still have all my teeth in my head) but some of the price increases should give pause.

If you want to equip your office with less than the usual one indirect per lane, one per doctor or one per pod, then the wireless feature might be justifiable, even a savings. If you go that route, you might even consider the spectacle indirect option and carry your indirect around.

 

[Visionary]

I bought one of the first Keeler Spectra Plus spectacle-mounted LED BIOs around 2/07. I originally bought it for call, because our resident BIOs kept getting broken. I used it in clinic a few times and was hooked. I've since used it daily and have charged the battery pack only twice--yes, that's twice in almost a year and a half! LEDs draw roughly 1/4 the power of standard bulbs. I also like the color temperature. I feel it gives a clearer image, even through hazy media. On multiple occasions, I have picked up peripheral retinal breaks and found that I couldn't see them with the BIO on the laser. I've had to map out landmarks with mine, then laser based on the landmarks. Finally, it's unobtrusive. It doesn't get in the way at the slit lamp and is so light, I tend to forget I'm wearing it.

That said, spectacle-mounted BIOs are not for everyone. Some just don't like the frames on their heads. Not surprisingly, they don't fit very well over spectacles, though you can have a correction put into the frame itself. I would recommend trying one out before buying.

I've not seen the new Keeler Vantage LED BIO, but my comments about the image quality and battery life should still apply.