Our Laser Technology

Our Laser Technology

OUR LASER TECHNOLOGY

LASIK surgery remains the most popular and most common type of laser vision correction procedure performed today. It has a long proven track record in terms of safety, reliability and predictability since its introduction in the 1990s.

IntraLase Femtosecond Laser

The first step in LASIK surgery is the creation of a corneal flap. In the early days, eye surgeons use a hand-held motorised blade called a microkeratome to create the corneal flap before the excimer laser treatment. The modern method of flap creation is to use a laser called a femtosecond (FS) laser.

The IntraLase Method is a 100% blade-free approach to creating your corneal flap using the IntraLase FS laser. The IntraLase FS laser is US FDA-approved and widely used for blade-free flap creation. Its effectiveness and precision have been demonstrated in numerous scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals. The laser beam is focused just beneath the corneal surface and creates a uniform layer of microscopic bubbles that interconnect to create a corneal flap.

At Lang Eye Centre, we have the current version of the IntraLase; the 5th generation iFS 150Hz Advanced Femtosecond Laser, which is fast and accurate. It enables us to achieve an extremely high degree of control and customisation for optimal surgical outcomes.

The advantages of the IntraLase laser are:

Accurate flap creation that is safer and smoother compared to the microkeratome blade-cut flap.

Faster recovery with few LASIK flap-related complications.

Customisable flap for each individual eye to achieve optimal visual results.

The flap diameter, depth, edge angle and morphology can all be programmed and customised to suit each person’s cornea.

The IntraLase femtosecond laser aims to provide a higher quality of vision overall in the day and night, with less visual disturbances such as glare and haloes.

iFS

VISX STAR S4 IR Excimer Laser System

The second step in LASIK surgery is the actual laser treatment using an excimer laser to reshape the cornea. At Lang Eye, we make use of the VISX STAR S4 IR Excimer Laser System technology which is able to offer accurate laser corrections using current advances in technology in the following areas:

Iris registration technology – allows alignment of the laser to ensure accurate laser treatment.

Its ability to automatically align centrally to the pupil ensures accurate laser placement.

Variable laser spot size of 0.65mm to 6.5mm. This allows for faster correction along with less unnecessary tissue removal.

Variable repetition rate of treatment, to allow for faster treatment.

Active eye-tracking – tracks the eye faster than the eye can move.

Highly tissue-saving –- when more cornea tissue is preserved, the procedure is safer with less long-term risks. Higher degrees may also be corrected, meaning that it allows for a greater range of laser treatment and a higher chance of people achieving spectacle-freedom.

The VISX excimer laser offers 2 modules of LASIK treatments:

VISX Standard LASIK

Standard LASIK is a one-size-fits-all treatment; it only corrects a person’s basic refractive errors such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism in increments of 0.25D.

VISX Advanced CustomVue
Wavefront-guided LASIK

Wavefront-guided LASIK is a customised treatment that not only corrects these refractive errors in finer increments of 0.01D, but also unique imperfections of the eye (higher-order aberrations) that cannot be corrected with glasses, contact lenses or Standard LASIK surgery. It does so with the iDesign Advanced WaveScan Studio technology.

iDESIGN ADVANCED WAVESCAN STUDIO TECHNOLOGY

Prior to Wavefront-guided LASIK, we will perform the iDesign Advanced WaveScan test which maps and analyses the irregularities of the entire surface of cornea. It creates a 3D mapping (WaveScan) of the unique imperfections of the eyes and captures 5 times more information and 25 times more precision than with standard methods used for glasses and contact lenses. It uses detailed measurements of how light waves travel through your eyes and fall upon the retina, to create a laser treatment that is completely personalised for your eye anatomy and vision correction needs. The flap diameter, depth, edge angle and morphology can be programmed and customised to suit each person’s cornea to achieve optimal visual results.

iDesign makes use of modern technology to detect corneal irregularities via trigonometric functions, known as Fourier analysis. Compared to other laser systems which use a mathematical modeling system called Zernike Polynomials, Fourier analysis is able to detect even the smallest of corneal irregularities. 

The VISX CustomVue Wavefront-guided LASIK offers the following benefits:

Consistent Visual Results

Wavefront-guided LASIK aims to provide more desirable results compared to Standard LASIK, such as sharper and higher quality vision, with less glare, haloes and starbursts at night. Its precision increases the success rate and reduces the need for enhancement surgery.

Accurate and Effective Treatment

The Wavefront-guided procedure is combined with Iris Registration, a fully automated method of aligning and registering your one-of-a-kind wavefront correction, thereby helping to ensure precision and accuracy in treating refractive errors and corneal irregularities. It is also recommended over conventional Standard LASIK in correcting high levels of astigmatism.