Vertical chop means that both the phaco probe and the chopper are placed within the capsulorhexis and then both are embedded into the nucleus. By pulling the two instruments apart, a cleavage plane is created and then propagated through the entire nucleus, thereby splitting it in half. The advantage is that there is no need to place the chopper around the lens equator, but this does require a sufficient amount of nuclear sclerotic density in order to create separate heminuclear pieces.
Click below to learn vertical chop from this video ( includes slow-motion instruction):
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