MODEL RELEASED. Cataract surgery. Surgeon performs cataract extraction on a patient's eye using phacoemulsification. The surgeon is inserting the phacoemulsification probe into the eye of a patient and watching the procedure using a binocular microscope. Other members of the surgical team are seen in the background. This minimally invasive surgery uses ultrasound to break up the opacified lens of a cataract sufferer. A cataract is the loss of transparency in the lens of the eye. To restore normal vision, the defective lens must be surgically removed and replaced by an artificial lens.