Removal of Glasses

The Acuity Eye Centre uses the Wavelight EX500 Excimer laser and the FS200 Femto laser.  The combination of both of these devices guarantees predictable and reliable results, using a quick, painless and safe technique.

 Refractive Surgery to remove glasses

Advantages of Femto-Lasik

Optimal safety :
Highly reduced the risk of complications when cutting the corneal flap.
Reduced risk of infection and inflammation
Larger treatable surface for increased stability
Reduction in retreatment rates

Thinner flap:
The Femto-Lasik allows for such a thin, uniformly cut corneal flap that complications are practically non-existent. With these thinner flaps, the more corneal tissue is left behind, meaning not only an increase in long-term corneal stability but also the opportunity to correct higher refractive errors.

Even flap thickness:
When using the Femto-Lasik, the surgeon knows beforehand which form, thickness, measurements and capacity each flap entails. This is an important issue when considering treatment for higher refractive errors. When using a scalpel, a surgeon can only know how the flap will look after the cut has been made.

Other benefits:
Eyeball measurements are of little importance for Femto-Lasik laser eye surgery.
You will heal in a shorter span of time and your sight will improve much more quickly.
Visual results are excellent.
During the procedure, the Femto-Lasik laser exercises less pressure on the eye. This means the patient will experience very little discomfort.
Will Femto-Lasik work for me?

Nearly everyone with nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hypermetropia) or astigmatism can be treated using the Femto-Lasik method.

You are between 18 and 60 years old
You are in good health
Refractive errors between -12 and +6
Refractive errors have not undergone any changes during the past year
For correction of large myopic refractive errors and moderate or large hyperopic refractive errors, a more predictable correction may be achieved by removal of the lens (refractive lensectomy).
The final judgement about an individual patient can be made only after a detailed clinical examination and certain investigations like corneal topography.

Refractive surgery encompasses a range of procedures which are undertaken with the primary aim of correcting refractive error. The most common reason for performing these procedures is because the patient wishes to reduce their dependence on spectacles or contact lenses to achieve clear vision.

Most refractive surgical procedures achieve their objective by altering the curvature (and therefore the effective power) of the cornea. Flattening the cornea reduces its refractive power and reduces myopia (short-sightedness), whilst steepening the cornea increases its refractive power and reduces hyperopia (long-sightedness).

Flattening or steepening the cornea selectively along one axis reduces astigmatism.

In the early 1980s, the excimer laser was adapted to reshape the surface of the cornea by removing tissue in a very precise manner without damage to the internal structures of the eye.

Early laser refractive surgery involved mechanical removal of the epithelium in the centre of the cornea followed by laser ablation of the underlying corneal stroma. This in turn has largely been replaced by LASIK (laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis – where a hinged flap of the central corneal stroma is raised with a microkeratome and the laser ablation is applied to the underlying stromal bed before the flap is replaced) and LASEK (laser-assisted sub-epithelial keratomileusis – where a hinged flap of corneal epithelium is raised and laser ablation applied to the underlying corneal stroma before the epithelial flap is replaced).

Laser refractive surgery is generally effective up to 10 dioptres of myopia, 6 dioptres of hyperopia and 4 dioptres of astigmatism, though the predictability of correction tends to diminish towards the extremes of these ranges.

Refractive Lens Exchange

For correction of large myopic refractive errors and moderate or large hyperopic refractive errors, a more predictable correction may be achieved by removal of the lens (refractive lensectomy) and insertion of an intraocular lens implant of the appropriate power. This is effectively identical to a cataract operation, except for the fact that the lens being removed is healthy. There are also a number of designs of intraocular lens implant which can be inserted without the need to remove the natural lens (phakic intraocular lens implants).

The Protocol of Refractive Surgery and Refractive Lens Exchange

Laser refractive surgery is normally conducted under local anaesthesia as a “walk-in, walk-out” procedure. Clear lensectomy and phakic intraocular lens insertion are also usually performed under local anaesthesia on a day case basis but always performed in an operating theatre which conforms to the same standards recommended for other forms of intraocular surgery.