Archive for April, 2006

FDA Approved Lasers for Lasik Eye Surgery

Sunday, April 30th, 2006

Source:
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/LASIK/lasers.htm














Company and model

Approval number and date

Approved indications
(D = diopters)
Alcon
- LADARVision		 P970043/S5

5/9/00 		Myopia less than -9.0D with or without astigmatism
from -0.5 to -3.0D
Alcon
- LADARVision 		P970043/S7

9/22/00 		Hyperopia less than 6.0D with or without astigmatism
less than -6.0D
Alcon
 - LADARVision		 P970043/S10
10/18/02 		Wavefront-guided LASIK: Myopia up to -7.0D with
or without astigmatism less than 0.5D
Alcon
 - LADARVision		 P970043/S15
6/29/04 		Wavefront-guided LASIK: Myopic astigmatism from
-0.5D to -4.0D
Alcon
 - Apex Plus 		P930034/S13
10/21/99		 Myopia less than -14.0D with or without astigmatism
from 0.5 to 5.0D
Bausch & Lomb Surgical
 - Technolas 217a		 P990027

2/23/00 		Myopia from -1.0 to -7.0D with or without astigmatism
less than -3.0D
Bausch
& Lomb Surgical
- Technolas 217a		 P990027/S2

5/15/02 		Myopia
less than -11D with or without astigmatism less than -3.0D
Bausch
& Lomb Surgical
- Technolas 217a		 P990027/S4

2/25/03		 Hyperopia
between 1.0 and 4.0D with or without astigmatism up to 2.0D
Bausch
& Lomb Surgical
- Technolas 217z		 P990027/S6
10/10/03 		Wavefront-guided
LASIK: Myopia up to -7.0D with or without astigmatism up to -3.0D
Dishler P970049

12/16/99 		Myopia from -0.5 to -13.0D with or without astigmatism
between -0.5 to -4.0D
Kremer P970005

7/30/98

Myopia from -1.0 to -15.0D with or without astigmatism up to -5.0D
LaserSight
- LaserScan LSX 		P980008/S5

9/28/01 		Myopia from -0.5 to -6.0D with or without astigmatism
up to 4.5D
Nidek
- EC5000 		P970053/S2

4/14/00 		Myopia from -1.0 to -14.0D with or without astigmatism
less than 4.0D
VISX
- Star S2 & S3 		P930016/S12
4/27/01
Hyperopia between +0.5 and +5.0D with or without astigmatism up to
+3.0D
VISX
- Star S2 & S3		 P930016/S14

11/16/01 		Mixed
astigmatism up to 6.0D; cylinder is greater than sphere and of opposite
sign
VISX
- Star S2 		P990010
11/19/99		 Myopia less than -14.0D with or without astigmatism
between -0.5 and -5.0D
VISX
- Star S3 (EyeTracker) 		P990010/S1

4/20/00 		Same as S2, except with eye tracker
VISX
- Star S4 & WaveScan WaveFront System 		P930016/S16

5/23/03		 Wavefront-guided LASIK: Myopia up to -6.0D with
or without astigmatism up to -3.0D
VISX
- Star S4 & WaveScan WaveFront System 		P930016/S17
12/14/04		 Wavefront-guided LASIK: Hyperopia up to +3.00D
with or without astigmatism up to +2.00D
WaveLight

- ALLEGRETTO WAVE		 P020050

10/07/03 		Myopia
up to -12.0D with or without astigmatism up to -6.0D.
WaveLight

- ALLEGRETTO WAVE		 P030008
10/10/03
Hyperopia up to +6.0D with or without astigmatism up to +5.0D.

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How To Choose A Lasik Laser Eye Surgeon

Sunday, April 30th, 2006



Summary: Choosing a LASIK laser eye surgeon is without a doubt the most important decision that you will make when deciding to become less dependent on glasses or contact lenses. So how should you go about that decision?



Have you ever thought about LASIK laser eye surgery? If you wear eyeglasses or contact lenses chances are that at some time you will find things about glasses and contacts that are just annoying enough to make you want to get rid of them. LASIK
Laser Eye Surgery is by far the most popular type of laser eye surgery for correcting
nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. One of the reasons for LASIK’s popularity is that after almost 15 years of “real world” clinical experience, LASIK Laser Eye Surgery has withstood the test of time. That is to say, with proper and careful patient selection, realistic patient expectations and personal goals and an experienced, competent LASIK eye surgeon, LASIK laser eye surgery has proven to be a safe, effective and predictable method of vision correction.

As with any surgery, there are certain people who should not have LASIK
eye surgery because they have specific contraindications to the procedure. Also, LASIK
laser eye surgery does have risks that one needs to fully understand in order to make an informed decision about whether or not it is worth having for you as an individual. Again, consulting a LASIK eye surgeon is the best way to insure that you have a very high likelihood of excellent results and that your expectations are fully realized.

Choosing a LASIK eye surgeon is without a doubt the most important decision that you will make when deciding to become less dependent on glasses or contact lenses. So how should you go about that decision?

First, ask people you know have had LASIK laser eye surgery about their experience and their LASIK eye surgeon. Listen carefully. Word of mouth referral is a good place to start in order to at least begin the evaluation and consultation process. Just because you attend a LASIK laser eye surgery consultation with a particular LASIK eye surgeon, does not mean that you have to select that practice for your surgery. Make sure that the practice and the manner in which the staff and the surgeon interact with patients are compatible with how you would like to be treated.

Second, avoid getting swept up by either flashy advertising and claims or price advertising. Consider responding to advertisements that present information in a balanced and educational manner or offer to arrange a consultation without obligation. This gives you further opportunity to meet the staff and ask questions to see if that practice is a “fit” for you. Flashy advertisements, especially those tempting you with low prices are almost always misrepresenting something. Low price advertising is generally a means to get you “in the door” where high pressure sales tactics and bait and switch techniques can be applied. Typically when you attend a LASIK laser eye surgery consultation at one of these low price advertisers you find out that, “ that price is for the older laser, you should be treated on the new laser”, “that price is for people without astigmatism and you need to have your astigmatism treated”, “that price doesn’t include follow-up care and you need to have the follow-up care package”, “that price doesn’t include enhancements, and you should take the extra coverage for enhancements”, or a whole list of reasons why that low price doesn’t apply to you.

You should select a LASIK eye surgeon and practice that is known within the community. There is value and trust that can be assigned based on the reputation of the practice and its longevity. That is, they have visibility in the community and commitment to the community. Select a practice that you are confident will be around for years to come. Avoid LASIK eye surgery centers that operate like a “Doc In the Box”, where the LASIK eye surgeons come and go and employees hide behind the name of a corporate entity.

Finally, choose a LASIK eye surgeon who has sufficient overall experience in your type of LASIK laser eye surgery procedure. Some surgeons and entities make claims similar to McDonald’s method…”Over 500,000 served”. Common sense tells you that there is a cumulative procedural experience volume that is sufficient for developing competence and skill. Generally that is 500-1,000 procedures. In order to maintain that competence a LASIK
eye surgeon should probably perform about 20-30 procedures each month at a minimum. Bravado about having performed huge numbers of procedures may in fact be a warning sign that this particular practice operates like a production mill rather than a healthcare practice. This will be easy to determine by attending a consultation and seeing how you are treated. Remember, you want skill and experience but not to be treated like you are ordering a hamburger.

LASIK is a safe, effective and predictable method of correcting nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism when you have been carefully examined and found to be a good candidate by an experienced LASIK eye surgeon.

For more information about LASIK laser eye surgery, LASIK eye surgeons and the location of LASIK practices visit
http://www.seewithlasik.com/.

Author’s URL: http://www.seewithlasik.com
Dr. Herskowitz is the founding and managing member of The Medical Management Services Group, L.L.C. a physician practice management company limited to providing specialized management services to ophthalmology practices delivering refractive surgery to eye care patients.

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Improved Vision With Contact Lens Implants

Saturday, April 29th, 2006


Lasik laser eye surgery is not for everyone. There is an alternative eye surgery for those who cannot benefit from Lasik Laser Eye Surgery.

The federal government approved a procedure, called "ICL," (implantable contact
lens) just five months ago as an alternative to laser eye surgery. Doctors said
that even with the latest generation of laser equipment, there’s still a small
portion of patients who just aren’t suited for laser eye surgery usually because
their corneas are too thin, weak or flat.


Doctors have been implanting contacts for years, but the new twist in ICL is a
foldable lens. Because of it, doctors make only a tiny incision in the patient’s
eye. They use a small tube to insert the ICL behind the iris. They then close
the eye in front of it, holding the lens in place, making it virtually
invisible, and it heals fast.

The downside is that ICL is available only to those who are nearsighted between
ages 20 and 45. It is an internal surgery, which slightly increases the chances
of infection, though studies show the chances are about one in 1,000 cases. ICL
is currently several hundred dollars more expensive than Lasik.
 

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Is Lasik Surgery Right For You?

Saturday, April 29th, 2006


Is Lasik Surgery Right for You?

LASIK, it is not right for everyone. Doctors
typically divide potential LASIK patients into several categories ranging from
ideal to the non-candidate.


The following could negatively affect your visual outcome, or even disqualify
you for LASIK entirely.

Women who are pregnant or nursing may experience hormonal changes that affect
the shape of their eyes. For a more predictable result, it is better to wait a
few months before having LASIK.

Poor vision. There are limits to how much vision correction LASIK can provide.
Some people have such poor eyesight that they are beyond the help of refractive
surgery. FDA limits on approved procedures exclude those with more than -14.00
diopters of myopia, more than 6.00 diopters of astigmatism or more than +6.00
diopters of hyperopia. After a routine refractive eye exam your eye doctor will
be able to tell you if you qualify.

Unstable prescription. As we mature, our eyes change shape and size. That is why
a young person’s eyeglass or contact lens prescription is constantly changing.
Most prescriptions stabilize by the age of 18, but many do not and continue to
change throughout our 20s. LASIK surgeons prefer to operate on patients who are
over 18 and whose prescriptions have not changed significantly in two years.
Operating on eyes that are still in the process of growing creates the risk that
the vision correction will be negated as the eyes continue to change. Your eye
doctor will compare the results of your eye exam with your patient history to
see if your prescription is stable.

Eye health (anterior). Eye doctors typically divide the eye into anterior
(front) and posterior (back) portions. They use a biomicroscope called a
slit-lamp to examine the anterior portion (the lids, conjunctiva, cornea, iris,
lens and sclera) for abnormalities that could affect your LASIK outcome. For
this test, you put your chin in the chin rest over the examining chair, and the
doctor will shine a light onto your eyes and examine the anterior portion
through the microscope.

Eye health (posterior). Doctors can detect certain eye diseases, such as
glaucoma, ocular hypertension and diabetic retinopathy, by examining the
posterior portion of your eye (the retina, optic nerve and blood vessels). This
exam is called a fundus exam, and the doctor performs it by shining a light into
your eye and looking through your pupil.

 

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Lasik: Breakthrough Eye Surgery Procedure

Saturday, April 29th, 2006




LASIK, one of the biggest breakthroughs in eye surgery, is a surgical procedure that uses non-thermal technology to change the shape of the cornea in order to improve vision. LASIK, which is actually an acronym for Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis (though few people ever know about it), meaning “reshape the cornea with laser.”

There are other kinds of refractive surgical procedures, but LASIK is the most advanced. Although LASIK and PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy) use the same type of laser, their procedures are different with the way the stroma, the middle layer of the cornea is exposed. In PRK, the top layer of the cornea is scraped to espose the stromal layer while in LASIK, only a flap is cut in the layer and then folded back.

LASIK involves a two-step procedure. The first step involves the creation of a micro-thin flap of corneal tissue with the use of a disposable blade through microkeratome or with a laser, through IntraLase. Throughout the procedure, a small area of the eye is left untouched at one end to keep it attached to the eye. The second step involves the folding back of the flap and using an excimer laser to treat the corneal tissue. The excimer laser corrects myopia by flattening the cornea, hyperopia by steepening the cornea and astigmatism by making the cornea more symmetrical.

In addition, LASIK also corrects presbyopia, which is a condition that often occurs with old age. Presbyopia is the inability of the eye to see things clearly or to focus sharply on nearby objects. LASIK, however, can only correct one eye for clear distance vision and the other eye for clear near vision. This is called monovision.

The Excimer laser, which is the secret behind the procedure was actually originally developed by IBM for computer chips. The technology makes use of a cool beam of ultraviolet light, meaning that most of the heat generated dissipates quickly. This cooling property makes Excimer laser very ideal for eye surgery because it can vaporize corneal tissue without damaging the eye tissue through heat.

And because it is originally developed with computers in mind, the laser is extremely precise, with an accuracy of 0.25 microns. That is less than one one-thousandth of a millimeter. For most procedures, one need only to remove or correct 50 microns of thickness, which is as thick as a single human hair.

Aside from it being a safe procedure, LASIK also allows for rapid visual recovery and little post-operative discomfort unlike other kinds of surgery. There is also less chance for corneal haze and scarring as well as fluctuations of vision.

As “perfect” as the procedure may seem, LASIK, like any other surgeries, can still result in complications and may involve several risks.

Some temporary conditions that could occur are:

1. Dry eyes
2. Sensitivity to bright lights
3. Glare or streaks around bright lights

The following conditions are also possible, but very rare:

1. Under-corrections and over-corrections that require an enhancement, which has about 10 percent risk

2. Wrinkling of the corneal flap that requires repositioning of the flap, which is really infrequent

3. Permanently blurred vision that may not be corrected by eyeglasses, contact lenses or any other enhancements; and infection of the cornea that leads to the scarring and permanently blurred vision.

Knowing these conditions can happen, it is important that before a person decides to undergo the procedure, he or she consults with specialists. Doctors also provide surgical consent that patients must sign before undergoing any procedure.

Shannon Brown is the editor of EasyLasik.com. This site caters to Lasik
enthusiasts. You can visit the site at: http://www.EasyLasik.com.

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