Which One is Better Among LASIK,
Femto-LASIK, PRK, and SMILE?

Table of Contents:

• What is Smile Lasik laser surgery, and how does it work?
• What distinguishes Relex Smile Lasik from Femto Lasik/Custom Lasik?
• What are the Surgical Advantages of SMILE Lasik laser over Femto Lasik laser?

Technology continues to advance, and advances in medical science continue to make a difference in the lives of millions of people throughout the world. This is especially true for Lasik surgeons e.g. Visual Aids Centre, who have continued to access more advanced laser vision correction methods. Aside from questioning, how much does lasik cost? You would also ask what type of lasik treatment is best for you.

Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK), commonly known as Epi-Lasik or surface Lasik, is a first-generation laser vision correction procedure that involves manually removing the top layer of the cornea and then applying an excimer laser to reshape it and correct the patient's eye power. 

The post-procedure recovery period was painful due to surface ablation, and there were some early issues with delayed and inferior healing.

The arrival of the First Generation LASIK:

The next breakthrough that gained a lot of traction was LASIK.

Lasik laser vision correction is a fantastic treatment in which corneal tissue is ablated correctly (burned/vaporized) using an excimer laser to reshape the cornea and remove spectacle power. 

On the other hand, Lasik includes creating a flap with a mechanical blade known as a microkeratome. Femtolasik was made to refine further and advance the treatment.

Femtosecond laser (also known as Femto Lasik): In FemtoLasik, a corneal flap is generated using a different cutting laser called Femtosecond laser than in Lasik. Compared to the microkeratome blade, the introduction of the Femtosecond laser boosted the precision and accuracy of flap creation. 

As a result, Femto-LASIK is also known as bladeless LASIK. By adding further precision to laser vision correction surgery, Femto-Lasik enabled it to become even safer. However, whether using a blade or a Femtosecond laser, the challenge of producing a huge 20mm cut for a flap remained.

Relex Smile is a third-generation Lasik procedure. What if we could have a method that eliminated the flap and made it more precise, accurate, and safe than earlier laser vision correction procedures? 

Wouldn't that be fantastic and make the treatment so much more enjoyable? This is where I believe ReLEx SMILE, commonly known as SMILE Laser surgery, comes into play.

What is Smile Lasik Laser Surgery, and How Does it Work?

Smile Lasik surgery, also known as "Small Incision Lenticule Extraction," is a flapless, all-laser procedure that can only be performed with Carl Zeiss' Visumax femtosecond laser platform. There is currently no other laser system that can do this treatment. The disadvantages of previous operations have vanished with Smile Lasik laser surgery, but the benefits have remained!

What Distinguishes Relex Smile Lasik from Femto Lasik/Custom Lasik?

The patient is first positioned under the Femto Lasik machine in Femto LASIK. The flap is created with the help of a femtosecond laser. 

The flap is created with a Femtosecond laser machine involving the cup touching the eye and increasing pressure on the eye surface, depending on the laser machine. It's also a fast procedure. 

When compared to blade-based flap formation, femtosecond laser flap creation is significantly more exact and accurate. But the reality is that flap generation is still carried out, and the patient bed is moved to the Excimer laser machine once the flap is produced. 

The corneal tissue is carefully burned and reshaped by the excimer laser, and the flap is subsequently repositioned and becomes a component of the cornea once more. As a result, a flap is generated initially, followed by Excimer laser ablation.

A tissue lenticular is formed inside the intact cornea in SMILE Lasik laser vision correction, using a femtosecond laser generated from a platform called Visumax from Carl Zeiss. The thickness of the tissue lenticule depends on the patient's eye power. 

The machine's sophisticated cup adjusts to the curvature of the patient's cornea. The cup is gently touched during the technique, and light pressure is applied. The laser accurately creates the tissue disc inside the cornea. 

Unlike a flap technique, the entire therapy is performed in a confined environment. The lenticule is then removed through a small keyhole 2mm aperture in the cornea's periphery created by the laser. 

All of this is accomplished without using a flap, making it a flapless and bladeless surgery. In a nutshell, instead of a 20mm flap creation cut, there is a modest 2mm flap removal cut.

What are the Surgical Advantages of SMILE Lasik laser over Femto Lasik laser?

The main benefit of the ReLEx grin is that it allows for precise tissue disc synthesis in a confined environment without the need for flap cutting. ReLEx smile uses a solid-state laser and is not impacted by environmental humidity, unlike excimer–laser-based procedures like LASIK or Femto Lasik. 

The VisuMax is a completely silent, delicate, and gentle laser. There is no burning sensation and no vision blackout throughout the operation. 

Furthermore, due to the shape of the cup and its calibration to the patient's cornea, the cornea is not forced into a non-physiological planar shape during the laser operation. 

As a result, during the laser treatment, artifacts are avoided. Furthermore, there is no need to raise intraocular pressure to dangerously high.

These distinctions make the operation smoother, safer, and painless, and they result in many benefits-

The amount of spherical aberration induced is kept to a minimum. As a result, ReLEx smile patients are more likely to have improved vision quality, which is especially true for individuals with extreme myopia. Furthermore, ReLEx SMILE may be more precise than LASIK, particularly for higher degrees of myopia.

• ReLEx Smile maintains the biomechanical stability of the cornea better than operations like Lasik or Femto Lasik, which create a flap.
• There is minor postoperative discomfort because there is no flap.
• Nerves are cut when a flap is formed during Femto Lasik, resulting in dry eye. There is no increased dry eye with ReLEx SMILE since no flap is produced.
• ReLEx grin is the best operation for those involved in contact sports and combative professions such as the army, air force, and others where there is a chance of flap displacement.
• ReLEx SMILE is also faster than Femto LASIK because the patient bed is only exposed to one laser machine.
• The ReLEx SMILE laser vision correction treatment occurs in a closed atmosphere with no contact with the outside world. Outside temperature, humidity, draughts, and other factors have no effect. This improves the overall precision of the technique.
• We surgeons have always wished for a moment when closed intracorneal surgery will replace the necessity of disturbing the corneal surface and creating a flap in the evolution of refractive laser procedures. SMILE Lasik laser vision correction is a positive step forward to making the operation safer and more successful ocular power reduction.

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