What Technology Is Used During LASIK?

 

When it comes to LASIK surgery, technology matters. North Suburban Eye Specialists is the only center in Minnesota to bring together the latest available LASIK technology: Contoura^TM Topography-Guided LASIK, the Ziemer Z2 femtosecond laser and the Alcon WaveLight EX500 excimer laser. This offers each patient a fully customized, state-of-the-art LASIK procedure with the best possible vision outcomes.

Step 1: Mapping a personalized procedure with Contoura Vision

The first step in the LASIK procedure involves mapping the eye’s cornea with brand new Vario technology only found at NSES. As no two eyes are alike, each cornea is imaged and analyzed using 22,000 unique elevation points. Any microscopic “hills and valleys” (topography) are mapped. This data is sent to the surgical planning computer to create an individualized ablation profile. This profile is used by the WaveLight ® EX500 excimer laser to automatically adjust laser pulse placement and match the topography-guided treatment when shaping the cornea. Every last imperfection is treated which is why the vision is so exceptional.

Contoura Vision has been proven to set a new standard in LASIK Outcomes:

• For the first time ever, a LASIK treatment delivered not just equal to but better vision than glasses and contacts (baseline BSCVA) in over 30% of eyes in the study.*,1
• It improved many common symptoms associated with LASIK including light sensitivity, difficulty driving at night, reading and complaints of glare. No other LASIK treatment has ever proven to the FDA this can be done.
• It redefined quantity of vision.1
• It delivered the best vision ever seen for any LASIK treatment in FDA history. (And it’s only available at North Suburban).

View the full results of the Contoura Vision Study.

Step 2: Creating a corneal flap with bladeless femtosecond laser technology

The next step in the LASIK surgery procedure involves the creation of an ultra thin flap in the eye’s outer corneal tissue. While traditional procedures use a microkeratome blade for flap creation, NSES was one of the first centers in the region to adopt femtosecond laser technology. But NSES doesn’t stop there because not all femtosecond lasers are created equal. NSES’s  Ziemer Z2 laser is the most advanced and accurate way to create the LASIK flap. The Ziemer Z2 uses 99% less energy per shot than other femtosecond lasers such as the older outdated Intralase and iFS. Since a femtosecond laser fires millions of shots to create a flap this makes an enormous difference. Less energy means it is more gentle on the cornea yet has greater precision.

• More comfort for the patient due to a quicker procedure
• Faster visual recovery due to a smoother flap
• Reduced chance of dry eye due to less laser energy use
• Less inflammation and light sensitivity due to less energy use

The Z2 laser allows NSES to offer safer, more precise LASIK flaps.

Step 3: Shaping the cornea to your customized LASIK procedure

To adjust the way light is interpreted or refracted by the eye, the cornea is gently shaped with our WaveLight EX500 excimer laser. North Suburban Eye Specialists is the first center in Minnesota to offer this exciting new laser technology. The EX500 is the only laser to offer the industry’s most recent advancements:

• 500 Hz operation, meaning a faster LASIK procedure
• Innovative engineering that reduces flap shrinkage and stromal dehydration of the cornea
• Wavefront Optimized and Topography-Guided treatments for complete customization
• 1050 Hz-type multi-dimensional eye tracking for optimal precision and safety. Tracks eye movements every 1/1000th of a second, faster than humans can move
• Reduces the potential for nighttime glare

Technology matters, and NSES delivers the best technology for a precise LASIK procedure on every patient. We don’t just say we have the latest LASIK technology in the US, we can prove it.

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What Happens The Day Of My Procedure?

 

*Post hoc analysis of postoperative UCVA compared to preoperative BSCVA of 230 eyes contained in the FDA T-CAT pivotal trial at 12 months. The primary end point evaluated changes in BSCVA.

1. Results from FDA T-CAT-001 clinical study for topography-guided vision correction (with the 400 Hz ALLEGRETTO WAVE® Eye-Q Excimer Laser).