The Barron Artificial Anterior Chamber is comprised of three pieces: a base with a tissue pedestal, a tissue retainer and a locking ring. The base has two ports with silicone tubing, in-line pinch clamps, and female Luer Lok connectors. Either port may be used to inject or aspirate viscoelastic, balanced salt solution, or air beneath the donor cornea.

For best results, the outside diameter of the donor tissue should be less than 18mm but not smaller than 14mm.

Suggestions for Use

• Inject balanced salt solution into one of the tubing ports. Remove the excess from the well in the tissue pedestal.
• Deposit a drop of viscoelastic material into the well of the tissue pedestal prior to placement of the donor tissue. Place the donor cornea on the tissue pedestal with the epithelium facing up.
• With the donor tissue in place, carefully align the two holes in the tissue retainer with the two pegs projecting from the base and press down firmly.
• Place the locking ring over the tissue retainer and turn clockwise until the ring is locked firmly in place.
• Additional viscoelastic, BSS, or air may now be injected to obtain the desired pressure beneath the donor cornea. It is suggested to use one port for irrigation and the other for air. Both pinch clamps may be locked to maintain the desired pressure while the donor cornea is being cut.
• For pentrating keratoplasty procedures, use a Barron Radial Vacuum Trephine for cutting the donor cornea.

A Flash video demonstrating the use of the Barron Artificial Anterior Chamber is provide below. If you don't have the Flash add-on installed on your computer you can download a mpeg version by clicking here.

 

An example of the use of the Barron Artificial Anterior Chamber for preparing donor cornea tissue for the DLEK procedure is shown in the Flash video at the right that was prepard by Dr. M. Bowes Hamill (Baylor College of Medicine).  The video also shows the Barron Vacuum Donor Punch being used to cut the donor button after the stroma has been split using the artificial anterior chamber. If you don't have a Flash player installed on your computer you can download a Windows Media Video (.wmv) file by clicking here. (19MB file)

 

The last half of the DLEK Flash video is available at the left.  It shows the insertion into the patient's eye of the donor tissue that was prepared as shown in the video above.

Suggestions for Use - Steel Base

The accessory steel base was designed to be used with the Barron Artificial Anterior Chamber.  The steel base has 4 sets of threads that will engage the bottom opening of the Anterior Chamber.  The engagement is a press fit, and the threads are "self-tapping" so the user should not expect the Chamber to just simply screw onto the base. 

Position the steel base on a firm flat surface, and hold it in one hand along the finger grips that are on the perimeter of the base. Hold the base of the artificial anterior chamber in the other hand and place it squarely over the threaded pedestal of the steel base. Push the artificial anterior chamber base down firmly and simultaneously twist it clockwise approximately 15-20 degrees.

• The chamber base should be secured snugly in place.  As noted above, the locking mechanism is a press fit, with the threads on the base making it easier to accomplish the press fit.
• To remove the chamber from the steel base, simply hold the steel base in one hand and turn  chamber base counterclockwise.
  

An example of using the steel base is shown in the flash video below.