What is the Latest Equipment on the LASIK Procedure?

The CATz laser is the gold standard of Lasik. The catz laser uses 7,000 plus points of light to map the cornea and create a customized atmospheric treatment zone. Traditional lasers and ReLex SMILE lasers cannot achieve this map as they only utilize a few hundred points of light to analyse the corneal surface. Look for a surgeon in your city who performs CATz. Call and ask, most surgeons do not perform CATz because it takes advanced training to operate the laser. I am the only surgeon in Michigan regularly performing CATz.  

In my opinion the best laser technology is Custom WaveFront available on the Visx S4 laser.  This allows a personalized treatment specific to you and your eyes.  With WaveFront technology, their is a decreased need for enhancement or fine tuning, 85% of patients have less glare at night and it is possible to achieve better vision than the best pair of glasses or contacts postoperatively.

I like to have the most up-to-date equipment at my facility, IQ Laser Vision, so that is why I use the Allegretto Wave Eye-Q, manufactured by Wavelight AG.  It is the fastest LASIK platform available in the country today.  The Allegretto Wave Eye-Q laser boasts of state-of-the-art technology for safe, accurate and customized vision correction.  Featuring wavefront-optimized technology for customized corneal ablation as well as an advanced eye-tracking system, this technology enables me to correct each individual’s unique refractive errors while preserving the cornea’s natural shape and minimizing post-procedure effects such as glares and halos.  Also, the laser’s one-of-a-kind eye tracking system is able to automatically adjust to changes in a patient’s pupil size during their procedure. The result is a safe and precise vision correction procedure for every patient. The Allegretto Wave Eye-Q delivers 400 treatment pulses per second correcting each patient’s refractive errors within seconds. 

I would ask to see the laser or lasers during your consultation and even watch a procedure or two.  Most centers will have the laser open to view through a viewing window where you can see for yourself what technology is being used.  If a surgeon has top-of-the –line equipments then he/she would be proud to display them.  The main thing to know is if the surgeon lives and breathes LASIK surgeries.  You want to find someone that performs LASIK on a regular basis so their skills remain sharp. 

Good luck with your research!