UPDATE: FDA Approval of VisuMax Femtosecond Laser to Treat Myopia!
Carl Zeiss Meditec and Slade & Baker Vision Center have been conducting a research study on this new laser procedure, SMILE, designed to correct nearsightedness and astigmatism.
SMILE is an alternative to LASIK and designed to accomplish the same visual result as the LASIK procedure. It has been approved in the rest of the world for quite some time, and we are so excited to report that it finally got the approval here in the US yesterday, September 13th 2016!
The formal name for the procedure is small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE).
The ultrafast laser, which emits bursts of light measured in quadrillionths (yes, that’s a word!) of a second, carves out a disc-shaped piece of interior corneal tissue that an eye surgeon removes through a keyhole incision. Removing the tissue reshapes the cornea and corrects myopia (or nearsightedness).
According to an FDA news release, patients who underwent the SMILE procedure for myopia experienced stable vision correction at 6 months according to a clinical study of the laser’s safety and effectiveness.
Out of 328 patients at 6 months, 88% had eyesight that was 20/20 or better!
Sounding more and more interesting as you read…..?
YOU would be a great candidate for the SMILE procedure if:
You have nearsightedness with or without astigmatism
You are at least 22 years of age
You have had no previous eye surgery, significant trauma or infections in either of your eyes.
You have a pair of glasses that are at least 1 year old
You are in good general health
You are willing to take your contact lenses out several weeks before surgery.
To find out more about this amazing procedure or to see if you are a candidate and to set up your complimentary exam please call [mn_location pid=’128′]{tel}[/mn_location].
Interested in hearing straight from a patient’s mouth? For an actual SMILE patient’s experience see article below:
“I had my LASIK/SMILE surgery about 2.5 weeks ago at Slade & Baker. I have extremely high myopia (about -9) and astigmatism (-3). I went to a few other doctors before I went to slade & baker, they all told me I wasn’t a good candidate for LASIK and my option was ICL which would have cost me around $10k. I was hopeless and almost went through with it. Then I came across Slade & Baker, who was conducting a clinical study for SMILE procedure. I was aware that the SMILE technology has been approved outside the US for many years, but it’s yet to be approved by the FDA. They took me in for extensive testing/evaluations on my eyes, and thankfully I qualified. I honestly had never met such great people in my life. Cindy was so helpful throughout the process, I could feel that she truly wanted the best for me. Chadisty and Dr. Essa have also been so helpful and friendly. I had my left eye performed SMILE and right eye LASIK. I didn’t meet Dr. Slade until right before my surgery, who seemed very experienced and knowledgeable. The actual procedure lasted maybe 1 min or 2. There was even a nurse holding my hand to put me at ease. The procedure changed my life. I can see clearly with my LASIK eye now and my SMILE eye can see well but still recovering (which is the difference between SMILE and LASIK). I can’t wait till it fully recovers. I can’t thank the whole staff enough!” – SMILE patient posted on Yelp July 8, 2016.
For MORE information on the SMILE procedure at our office you can visit our SMILE clinical trial page by clicking on this link or you can call us to schedule an evaluation today at [mn_location pid=’128′]{tel}[/mn_location]
