Hoopes Vision - 877-30-LASIK

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All-Laser Vision Correction and IntraLase™ Custom LASIK for the Salt Lake City, Utah Area

Hoopes Vision is committed to providing its patients with the newest and safest technologies. As the only vision practice with five different types of custom all-laser LASIK vision correction platforms in all of Utah, Sandy and Salt Lake City-area residents have the benefit of variety and choice when deciding how to improve their vision. Our various machines, including the more accurate IntraLase™ laser, ensure our Salt Lake City, Utah-area patients that they have the highest-quality laser vision correction options available. We were the first Utah center to obtain the Allegretto Wave laser (4½ years before anyone else) and have performed over 15,000 Allegretto treatments and were the first LASIK center in the nation to purchase the Zeiss MEL 80 laser. If you would like to learn more about the technology that we use and how it can help you, please contact Hoopes Vision today to schedule a private consultation.

All-Laser LASIK Vision Correction – A Safer Approach to LASIK

Some patients may be surprised to learn that traditional LASIK laser vision correction is not an all-laser procedure. The conventional LASIK procedure performed at our Salt Lake City-area practice was a two-step surgery in which only the second step was performed with a laser. The first step, creating a corneal flap, was performed using a mechanical blade to cut into the surface of the eye. Now, thanks to a technological breakthrough, a silent, computer-guided laser creates the corneal flap.

This advancement allows all-laser LASIK vision correction, referred to as IntraLASIK, to be performed by our Sandy, Utah surgeons. This new laser introduces new, high-precision femtosecond laser technology to eye surgery. It uses a short, rapidly fired impulse with a spot size of only three microns to pass through the cornea and, through a process called photo disruption, create the corneal flap safely from the inside out. These small spots are spread out on a layer out beneath the cornea, creating thousands of cavitation bubbles of carbon dioxide and water vapor, each bubble smaller than a red blood cell, that produce a clean dissection plane. The spots are stacked at the periphery of the dissection plane to form the side cut and hinge. This system also introduces a new level of safety as it largely eliminates most flap complications. This solid-state laser is computer-controlled and can make very clean and precise incisions within the cornea without the risk of damaging surrounding tissues. Our new iFS IntraLase™ laser is an entirely new 5th generation laser. It takes as little as 9 seconds to create a corneal flap using this new technology. The iFS IntraLase™ also increases patient comfort, and improves flap adhesion and healing beyond older versions of IntraLase™.

Although some believe that the cost of LASIK eye surgery is keeping many people from having this miraculous procedure, studies show that most patients are waiting for improvement in its safety. Most complications associated with LASIK occur during the creation of the corneal flap. Flaps are usually created with a razor-like surgical blade attached to a handheld microkeratome. Flap complications with the microkeratome are rare and include off-centered and incomplete flaps, flaps that are too thin or thick, and buttonhole flaps. The iFS IntraLase™ laser virtually eliminates the major complications associated with the microkeratome. Besides being much safer, the IntraLase™ laser is more accurate (up to 100 times more precise) and patients are more likely to achieve vision that 20/20 or better. The risk of experiencing dry eyes is also decreased with the use of the IntraLase™ laser.

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Custom LASIK

Despite the exceptional results that patients have been enjoying over the last few years with newer laser vision correction treatments, there are still some patients who experience less than ideal outcomes. Such situations have been caused by many different factors, such as individual genetic healing responses, the differently sized optical and treatment zones produced by the various lasers, and patients themselves, who may have distortions or aberrations in their visual systems that are made worse after laser treatment. These higher-order aberrations (HOAs) produce refractive distortions that limit the visual acuity of healthy eyes to less than their full potential. Spectacles and contact lenses do not currently correct these aberrations.

Why opt for custom LASIK?

It is estimated that 10 percent to 20 percent of patients have significant higher-order aberrations that can be corrected with a procedure known as custom LASIK. For our Utah patients with these higher-order aberrations, the difference between conventional LASIK and custom LASIK can be compared to that between buying an off-the-rack suit versus a tailor-made, custom-fit suit.

At Hoopes Vision, we recognized early on the great benefits custom LASIK with wavefront-guided technology afforded our patients. Wavefront-guided treatments start by measuring thousands of unique points in the patient's vision; these measurements are analyzed to identify distortions that would not have been addressed with a treatment using the normal glasses of contact lens prescription. The measurements are processed by wavefront software to create a customized LASIK treatment plan to optimize the patient's vision.

While wavefront-guided custom LASIK treatments were more effective than traditional LASIK procedures, Hoopes Vision has fully embraced an even-newer technology known as wavefront-optimized treatments. Traditional and wavefront-guided LASIK technologies had been shown to cause an additional distortion during the treatment known as spherical aberrations – aberrations that were found to be a significant factor behind post-LASIK nighttime halos and glare. Wavefront-optimized treatments are designed to correct a very large prescription range, but can do so without compromising the natural curvature of the eye, resulting in crisp, clear vision with a decreased risk of halos and glare.

Wavefront-optimized treatments now comprise the majority of our custom LASIK procedures, as we believe that this is the option that allows for the best possible results in most of our patients. The LASIK technologies that we use for our wavefront-optimized treatments were built from the ground-up with an understanding of the shortcomings of wavefront-guided treatments. In our experience, wavefront-optimization affords most patients the best possible outcome with the least chance for vision post-treatment complications. Hoopes Vision is proud to be the only LASIK practice in Utah to offer wavefront-optimized custom LASIK treatments, and we hope to be able to help you achieve your best vision using our advanced technologies. To learn more, please contact Hoopes Vision today.

What are the advantages of wavefront and custom LASIK?

While conventional LASIK can actually worsen higher-order aberrations, wavefront technology and custom LASIK can benefit patients with HOAs. For patients without significant HOAs, wavefront-optimized technology can ensure that the LASIK procedure will not result in induced higher-order aberrations.This fact is another good reason for patients not to consider discount surgeons and centers that, because of the added costs in equipment and time, are not likely to be able to offer this advancement any time soon.

Whether a patient's eye has naturally occurring aberrations or has defects caused by previous surgeries, the wavefront analysis gives the surgeon a better understanding of how the patient is seeing, the causes of the patient’s problems and complaints, and what can be done now or in the future to help the patient see better. Every person considering LASIK should have a wavefront map created prior to surgery to determine whether or not he or she might have these higher-order aberrations.

How does wavefront mapping and custom LASIK work?

The wavefront analyzing devices (aberrometers) that the Alcon LADARVision®, Bausch & Lomb Technolas®, and VISX® CustomVue™ systems use work by measuring the passage of light through the eye. They employ a system in which rays of light are measured as they come out of the eye after being influenced by the different parts of its structure such as the tear film, the anterior and posterior cornea, the lens, the vitreous fluid, and the retina. The values recorded give the doctor the ability to observe both the direction and magnitude of each aberration or defect. Depending on the degree and number of aberrations identified, the doctor can determine whether the patient should proceed with conventional treatment (or re-treatment) or a custom LASIK procedure. The data can then be fed into an excimer laser equipped with specialized software to execute a custom LASIK treatment that compensates for aberrations, allowing for better postoperative visual acuity and better vision under low-light conditions.

A custom ablation (removal of tissue) includes four components. First, a quantitative measurement of both low- and high-order aberrations is taken with the wavefront aberrometer. Second, this Zernike data is transferred to the laser. Third, automatic registration or matching of the wavefront to the eye occurs. Fourth, the computer in the laser calculates how to deliver a unique ablation to each eye.

Wavefront and Custom LASIK Outcomes

In studies on wavefront ablations, improved visual outcomes were seen because both lower- and higher-order aberrations were reduced. The wavefront-treated patients experienced significantly greater reductions in aberrations when compared to conventionally treated patients. This new wavefront-corrected vision is being referred to as "high-definition vision." If you happen to have HOAs, the use of the wavefront custom LASIK technology available at our Utah office will make a significant difference in giving you a good visual outcome!

Wavefront and Custom LASIK at Hoopes Vision

At Hoopes Vision, we believe that a screening with a wavefront aberrometer as part of the preoperative exam is critical for all laser patients in the process of choosing a surgeon, a center, and a laser for vision correction. Hoopes Vision is positioned as the leader in wavefront technology, wavefront-optimized technology, and custom LASIK procedures with three wavefront lasers, two wavefront-optimized lasers, and three wavefront mapping aberrometers. We are excited to be able to offer this latest technology and the custom LASIK treatment it makes possible to our Utah patients.

To learn about the great advantages of custom LASIK performed at our Utah-leading vision practice, please contact Hoopes Vision today.

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To learn more about custom LASIK with IntraLase™, as well as all-laser LASIK vision correction near Salt Lake City in Sandy, Utah, please contact Hoopes Vision today.






Hoopes Vision
Vision Correction Center

10011 S. Centennial Pkwy Suite 400
Sandy, Utah 84070
877-30-LASIK

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