- The Smile procedure has become the 3rd generation of laser vision correction after PRK and LA
- This unique micro invasive refractive method has now been successfully performed on more than 100,000 eyes worldwide.
- Smile stands for Small Incision Lenticule Extraction.
- It is based on the removal of a tissue disc (called lenticule) instead of tissue ablation, distinguishing it from PRK and femto-Lasik.
- An excimer laser is not required.
- The refractive lenticule is created in the intact cornea, using the ZEISS VisuMax femtosecond laser system.
- Unlike Lasik, the SMILE procedure is performed without creating a flap. We strongly believe that patients prefer to be treated without flap creation. The fact that a flap has to be cut in one’s eyes is a frightening prospect for some patients, which is not a concern when using Smile.
- Now we are using the VisuMax femtosecond laser to perform SMILE ,ReLEx, a pinhole procedure that we believe is the next logical step in refractive corrections.
- If you look down the road to 5 years from now, however, it is very likely that the majority of practices and surgeons will prefer SMILE or other intrastromal refractive surgery treatments over Lasik.
- It is a flapless procedure that has all the advantages of surface ablation and all the advantages of LASIK. It would be like PRK without pain and LASIK without a flap.
- Smile is a flapless, bladeless, noiseless, odorless procedure.
Our patients are amazed at how quickly the procedure is over, as it takes only 28 seconds. A treatment for keratoconus which has shown great success is Corneal Collagen Crosslinking with Riboflavin (C3-R®*) or CXL, a one-time application of riboflavin eye drops to the eye. The riboflavin, when activated by approximately 30 minutes illumination with UV-A light, augments the collagen cross-links within the stroma and so recovers some of the cornea’s mechanical strength. C3-R®*, developed at the Technische Universität Dresden, Germany has been shown to slow or arrest the progression of keratoconus, and in some cases even reverse it, particularly when applied in combination with intracorneal ring segments.
