Z Laser Assisted Cataract Surgery
Laser precision in cataract surgery and lens exchange
Has your eye doctor recommended that you have the natural lens in your eye replaced with an
artificial one due to cataract formation? If so, we have good news for you: Cataract surgery and lens exchange have undergone profound progress in the last few years and can now be performed without using a surgical blade.
Helping you see
Using an innovative new laser technology, we achieve ultimate precision and safety in cataract surgery. The following pages will tell you more about this new technology and help you decide if the laser precision method is right for you.
As always, ask your doctor if you have specific questions or concerns not covered on this website.
Cataract and Lens Exchange
Cataract is the most common reason why the eye‘s natural lens should be replaced with an artificial lens. In most cataract cases, the aging natural lens becomes cloudy, blurring your eyesight and dimming colours. High, near or farsightedness and presbyopia may be other reasons to exchange the natural lens in people who would prefer to stop wearing glasses.
Recent Advancement: The Laser Replaces The Blade
The femtosecond laser used in cataract surgery and lens exchange precisely breaks up the different tissue layers and structures in the eye using a powerful light beam. In conventional surgery, the surgeon creates incisions in the eye by hand and uses ultrasonic technology, developed in the 1970s, to break the clouded natural lens apart so that it can be removed before a new lens can be inserted.
Traditional lens exchange procedures are safe and common but cannot achieve the surgical precision of a procedure performed with a laser.
The Femtosecond Laser
The laser used in Z-Cataract procedures has an activation period of a few hundred femtoseconds. One femtosecond corresponds to 0.000,000,000,000,001 seconds. The tissue depth at which the femtosecond laser works can be adjusted by the surgeon allowing the laser to work precisely both on the surface of the eye and in deeper layers.The acronym LASER stands for ‘Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation’. A laser is essentially a light emitter. Unlike incandescent light such as that from a common light bulb, laser light is directed into one focused beam which amplifies its intensity. These days there is a very broad range of applications for laser technology: DVD players, distance measuring instruments, cutting and welding tools as well as many clinical applications. The laser power interacts with the tissue only for a tiny fraction of a second which results in a gentle procedure.
The Laser Cataract Surgery Procedure
- Once the laser has been programmed and started, its job will be complete in less than one minute.
During your treatment, the surgeon will be by your side and supervise every step of the operation.
The integrated OCT system enables the surgeon a clear visualization of the eye’s surfaces – before, during and after the procedure. - The laser will divide your clouded lens into fragments like that of a pie, which will then be removed from the eye through a tiny tube that is only a few millimetres wide.
- What can you expect during your femtolaser cataract procedure? First, you will have a preoperative examination where your eyes will be measured so that your doctor can select the proper artificial lens for you by measuring the length of the eye from front to back. This procedure is absolutely painless, doesn’t touch your eye and will ensure that you get the perfect lens.
- Next, the information gathered will be programed into the femtosecond laser device so that the surgery is customized to your exact eye anatomy.
- Before your surgery, you will be led to a comfortable surgical bed where you will lie down. Your surgical team will disinfect and dress the area around your eye in a sterile fashion. Drops will be instilled into the eye so that you will not feel any pain during the
Once your eye is anaesthetized, a liquid filled ring which centres the laser beam path is placed on your eye with a light vacuum so that the laser will be in the perfect position during surgery.
Laser or Blade – What Are the Differences?
Laser offers ultimate precision in the micrometre range.
A more precise surgery makes it more likely that the artificial lens will remain stable and provide the best possible vision. Using the femtosecond laser, surgeons can achieve the perfect capsular shape, size and position for lens fragmentation. The high precision openings created help the surgeon to perfectly align the artificial lens in the eye.
It’s minimally invasive.
The femtosecond laser not only creates precise accesses to the interior of your eye, it also fragments the clouded lens in such a way that it can be ultimately be removed with very little or even no ultrasonic power. This means less strain on the sensitive tissues and structures of the eye thereby helping to prevent an inflammatory response.
It offers predictability of important surgical steps.
Your eye is carefully measured and the measurement data programed into the laser. By doing this in advance, the surgeon can plan, supervise and guide your unique and individual treatment from start to finish.
It offers individualized and combined treatment.
We provide treatment specifically made for your eye. The laser’s versatility allows us to precisely pinpoint the locations at which it will separate the tissues, ensuring a custom procedure perfectly designed for your eye.
Femtosecond Laser Versus Conventional Surgery
In conventional surgery an incision into the cornea is made with a scalpel or a diamond blade to create a straight opening to gain access to the lens.
The laser creates a predictable, precise, pre-determined sized circular opening into the lens capsule to gain access to the cataract.
In conventional surgery a circular tear is made into the capsular bag by using a metal hook or forceps held by the surgeon. The precise outcome and size of the capsular bag cannot always be guaranteed. In the normal mono-focal IOL’s it’s not really a problem, but when it comes to Premium lenses where size, placement and fit is essential, it is advisable to remove the cataract with AI Femto Laser Assisted Cataract Surgery.
The femtosecond laser fragments the clouded lens into precise wedge shaped sections within seconds. In conventional surgery the clouded lens is broken up with ultrasound which is achieved by inserting an ultrasound wand into the lens capsule.
The femtosecond laser gently removes the fragmented lens with gentle suction in minimum and less invasive moves. In conventional surgery the fragmented lens is removed by aspiration and irrigation by the doctor’s hands and instrument.
The femtosecond laser places precisely shaped and positioned tubes in the eye to insert the new lens, whereas with conventional surgery the artificial lens is inserted with an injector.
Why We Decided to Use the Ziemer Femto LDV Z8 Laser:
Your safety and well-being during and after the surgery is our highest priority. This is why
we chose the Ziemer FEMTO LDV Z8 laser device which offers the following features:
The laser can be used for many different applications and allows options in surgical planning. Since the laser performs operations with a comparatively low laser pulse power, the surgical intervention may be gentler for the eye.
Unlike other lasers, the Ziemer Z8 is mobile and can be moved to your bedside instead
of you having to go to the laser. This provides you more comfort and convenience during your surgery.
The interface attaching the device to your eye was carefully designed to adapt to the shape of your eye. This reduces both eye reddening and the pressure the eye endures during surgery helping keep the procedure safe, and you more comfortable.
The Ziemer Z8 helps the surgeon plan and supervise each unique, customised surgery through special visualization features that enable a live view into the layers of the eye through imaging technology called OCT (optical coherence tomography).
