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 | Carl Zeiss VisuMax in Samsung Medical Center |
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Perhaps everybody who is wearing glasses and is confronted with daily problems when reading or in sports had this thought already: “Would a visual correction make sense, would I get rid of all the hassles of carrying glasses or contact lenses?” But then there is usually a second thought like: “What are the risks? What happens if things go wrong?”
Refractive surgery is any eye surgery, which improves the refractive abilities of the eye and decreases the dependency on glasses or contact lenses. This is basically achieved by a remodeling of the cornea.
While since beginning of the 20tiest century attempts were made to reshape the cornea, the development of stimulated emission of shorter length waves (LASER) opened a new door for treatments. But it took until 1980 until lasers were used to cut organic tissues. Only in 1983 the first Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) was performed and it was performed in Germany. In 1989 a patent was issued by the US Patent Office for Laser assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) which is describing a procedure in which a flap is cut in the cornea with a device called ‘Microkeratome’ and the surface underneath the flap is ablated to the desired shape with an excimer laser, after which the flap is placed back.
While in the beginning flap cut and cornea correction was a mechanical procedure performed with a Microkeratome, the ablation and corneal correction was increasingly performed with excimer lasers (LASIK).
In 2003 however, femtosecond Lasers (IntraLASIK)) started replacing Mikrokeratomes targeting to increase accuracy and surgical predictability.
In 2008 Carl Zeiss Meditec AG introduced the Visumax Refractive Laser to the market and again demonstrated it’s world-leading-edge-technology: The Visumax is designed to become the superior flap cutter (VisuLASIK) and corneal surgical device. VisuMax generates more accurate flaps compared to the Intralase and conventional microkeratomes and so can provide safe, predictable, stable and highest quality refractive outcomes with a fast visual recovery. The procedure is highly automated and operation takes only less than 15 seconds using the new 500kHz Laser which will be introduced in the Korean market in September.
In addition the VisuMax opens doors to a new and innovative refractive corneal surgery¸ the so called FLEx surgery (Femtosecond Lenticule Extraction) which is now in the process of clinical approval. The two procedures FLEx and LASIK are quite different, as the cornea is not ablated in FLEx, as it would be in LASIK, but rather that a femtosecond laser ‘cuts’ the cornea.
Advantages are amongst others that visual quality is not depending on external conditions like the temperature of the operating room. Also high myopic corrections are possible and in general the healing process is improved due to smaller incisions and wounds. There is also no initial overcorrection as it can be seen when using excimer lasers.
Korea is one of the most important market for the Refractive Lasers of Carl Zeiss. One reason is that Koreans are very open to new technologies and readily go for a refractive surgery. Carl Zeiss is cooperating closely with all luminary doctors in the refractive field. One of the close partners of Carl Zeiss in Professor Chung at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul. Latest technology is installed here and Carl Zeiss appreciates highly the valuable input it receives to constantly improve it’s leading technology. Only with the help of our partners we will continue to keep technological leadership.
To come back to the initially asked question: Eyes usually differ a lot from person to person, and there are even eyes which are not suitable for refractive surgery.
This can only be assessed though a comprehensive eye examination done by a specialized doctor (Facharzt) or Ophthalmologist, who would then give his recommendation to the patient.
Surveys determining patient satisfaction with refractive surgery found most patients satisfied, with satisfaction ranges being 92–98 percent.
In March 2008 a meta-analysis looked at patient satisfaction performed by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery based on over 3,000 peer-reviewed articles published over the past 10 years in clinical journals around the world plus 19 studies comprising 2,200 patients revealed a 95.4% satisfaction rate. It is clear however, that every operation carries risks, although they are low nowadays (only 0.5% of all cases face serious problems).
At the end – after the input from the specialist - everybody has to decide for himself if he/she takes this risks to make his/her life a little bit more comfortable. | |
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