SMILE eye surgery: How is it different from LASIK?

SMILE Laser Eye Surgery

Ushering into the era of the keyhole and minimally invasive surgery has always been the call of modern medicine. A smile brings this advantage to the world of refractive surgery and brings a paradigm shift in which millions of people see the world.... spectacle-free.
Smile is a third-generation laser system by CARL ZEISS Meditec a name well reckoned in the world of optics and refractive surgery.

What exactly is a third-generation laser?

See the below-shared image and find the difference.

Difference between and LASIK

While LASIK succeeded in overcoming the post-operative discomfort experienced in PRK, it still is a flap based procedure whether we make the flap with a blade as in CV-Lasik, or blade-free with a femtosecond laser system. 

Further innovations in the form of refining the procedure with wave front guided approach (WAVELASIK/ILASIK) or with topography or contour guided approach (CONTOURA VISION/CONTOUR GUIDED LASIK) still leave us with potential flap related complications, weakening of the strength of the front layer of the eye (cornea) and propensity to have dry eye.

Smile on the other hand is a much gentler approach and in a single step procedure with just a 2mm incision, the patient enters the world of spectacle-free vision.

Smile vs Contoura which is better/best?

SMILE: THE PROCEDURE. (IMAGES PLS)

After numbing your eyes with the help of drops, your surgeon will take you for surgery on VISUMAXTM platform for smile procedure. Your surgeon would ask you to focus on a green blinking light and warn you regarding its disappearance during the alst few seconds of the 22-27 seconds laser treatment. Once the femto laser creates the thin contact lens like layer (lenticule) within the layers of cornea and the opening incision of 2 mm size on the surface of cornea, your surgeon would remove the lenticule and antibiotic drops would be instilled. Unlike LASIK, where in two steps and different laser systems are required, SMILE is a single step surgery which takes 3-5 minutes per eye. 

I AM STILL SO CONFUSED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN SMILE AND CONTOURA?

Before getting lost and confused in the world of jargons, a candidate willing for refractive surgery needs to understand that not one size fits all,(image)

Centre for Sight, well known for pioneering all the refractive surgeries(trust the expert lines)to the country, is your one-stop solution to find not only the perfect guidance for the correct procedure for you, but it also takes pride in housing just the latest, safest and world’s best machines technologies powered by well trained and acclaimed surgeons.

CAN I ALSO GET SMILE DONE??

Why not! Welcome to the world of smiles. Over 1 a million patients have already got their spectacle free smile done with the latest VISMAX^TM LASER system by CARL ZEISS (meditec). Smile is a wonderful technology for patients willing to get rid of their glasses but is currently indicated for patients with myopia (near sightedness) and myopic astigmatism only.

#SMILElaser #Lasereyesurgery #smallincisionlenticuleextraction #Lasereyesurgery

Author: Shad Ali 

Reading time10 minutes

Rating: 5 stars