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By
Charles E. Ramirez
The Detroit News
SOUTHFIELD -- For 18 years, John Gurka wore eyeglasses as
thick as pop bottles.
LASIK laser eye surgery three years ago helped some, but
things were still a little fuzzy.
"Details just weren't sharp," he said. "And
it was still hard driving at night."
Then Gurka underwent a new kind of laser eye surgery for
nearsightedness that uses National Aeronautics and Space
Administration technology -- and it's been a real eye-opener.
The 39-year-old certified public accountant from Livonia
is among the first in the state to receive the treatment
at the Michigan Eyecare Institute in Southfield.
The ophthalmology practice is one of the first in the country
-- and the only clinic in Michigan -- to offer the new procedure,
which uses a laser eye surgery system called LADARVision.
The system uses technology that was developed by the NASA
to track satellites and also is used by fighter pilots to
lock onto enemy targets.
LADARVision is the brainchild of Alcon Inc., a vision care
product and pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Hunenberg,
Switzerland. The $2.5 billion publicly traded company has
U.S. headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas.
The system, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration
in October, uses wavefront technology.
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The
procedure has two steps. In the first, a $85,000 diagnostic
device called the LADARWave beams a ray of light into a patient's
eyes. A computer creates a digital, three-dimensional map
of the eyes by measuring the light that bounces off the retinas
and the pupils.
Then, laser-guided surgical equipment uses the map to reshape
the cornea and correct vision problems. The cornea, the transparent
structure that covers the iris, transmits and refracts light
entering the eye.
Unlike traditional LASIK surgery, wavefront technology enables
eye surgeons to correct the smallest aberrations or problems
that affect the quality of vision. Many times, surgeons can
give their patients better than 20/20 vision with the procedure.
The LADARVision treatment isn't cheap, however. The procedure
costs about $4,200, and only a few health insurance plans
cover it, said Dr. William Myers, director of the Michigan
Eyecare Institute. He hopes that will change.
"(LADARVision) is the next big thing in corrective vision
surgery," Dr. Myers said. "Because the system is
so precise, people who weren't candidates for LASIK surgery
because of thin corneas, now, for the first time, have an
option."
Alcon, LADARVision's manufacturer, says there's a waiting
list of clinics that want the system.
For Gurka, who had his wavefront laser eye surgery last month,
the technology means seeing things as well as he once did.
"It's made a tremendous difference," he said. "I'm
more effective at whatever I'm doing."
You
can reach Charles E. Ramirez at (313) 222-2401 or cramirez@detnews.com
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Natalie
Lempert at the Michigan Eyecare Institute scans Micheal
Lagerstrom's eyes using LADARVision mapping technology.
The system is based on laser technology that originally
was developed by NASA.
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Vision
of the future
More
than 170 million American adults - 82 percent of the U.S.
adult population - use corrective and noncorrective eyewear.
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More
than 136 million American adults -- 66 percent of the
adult population -wear prescription glasses.
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Last
year, 1.2 million LASIK eye surgeries were done in the
United States, and each procedure had an average price
of $1,590 per eye.
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250
of the LADARVision procedures are being done each month
in the United States, averaging $4,500 per surgery.
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The
LASIK market has declined in the past two years -- down
27 percent in 2001 and 8 percent in 2002.
Source:
Vision Council of America, Alcon Inc.
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