MUSCAT -- Muscat Eye Laser Centre has launched Z-LASIK, "the latest and most advanced technology available in vision correction", CEO and Managing Director, Sameer al Awam said. "Whether you are short sighted, long sighted, have astigmatism or need glasses for reading, this technology of vision correction can eliminate your dependence on glasses and contact lenses once and for all," he said in a press conference here.
Z-LASIK is an all-laser, painless surgery and combines two laser procedures in one -- Zeimer Femtosecond LDV and the SCHWIND AMARIS TotalTech laser. The Ziemer technology works without any blade, replacing the older microkeratome blade. This laser assists the surgeon to make the flap within seconds and works with a precision of one trillionth of a second, ensuring very exacting depth control, a very fine cut and a flap with fixed and uniform thickness.
During all laser Z-LASIK, the patient lies on a table connected to the laser. The doctor looks through a powerful microscope at the patient's eye and uses the Ziemer laser to create a smooth partial thickness flap in the tissues of the cornea. She lifts up the flap and reshapes the surface of the eye with the SCHWIND AMARIS excimer laser and then puts the flap back down. Both eyes can be done at the same sitting.
Dr Maria Clara Arbelaez, Medical Director of Muscat Eye Laser Center, is the only doctor who has the expertise to handle and optimise the next generation all laser Z-LASIK technology in Muscat, he added. She is also among the most experienced eye laser surgeons in the world.
Talking about the new laser machine she said, "With solid state components, Zeimer Femtosecond LDV uses much less energy to create the LASIK flap. Less energy means less inflammation after the surgery. The Ziemer laser is very quiet and easy on the eye."
Each patient's eye has a unique wavefront fingerprint that is different from any other patient's wavefront fingerprint. Dr Maria Clara Arbelaez explained, "We are now able to use these unique fingerprints to treat each eye with a custom wavefront treatment that is highly specific for that eye's fingerprint."
No two eyes behave in the same way either. The SCHWIND AMARIS uses a wavefront treatment for the proper shaping of the cornea of each individual's eye. This innovative technology, using a high speed tracking system that follows the patient's eye at 1050Hz, is a major breakthrough.
Al Awam told the Observer that in the past six years since its inception, Muscat Eye Laser Centre has 100 per cent error-free results in more than 45000 surgeries. The centre also undertakes cornea transplants for different types of conditions and results have been quite satisfying.
Underlining the need to pledge one's eyes for giving sight to the sightless after one's own death, Al Awam said he too will pledge his eyes.
By Hasan Kamoonpuri
© Oman Daily Observer 2008
