What’s the buzz about SmartSight laser eye surgery?

What’s the buzz about SmartSight laser eye surgery?

SmartSight might be the most advanced kid on the block when it comes to laser eye surgery, but the technique and safety have been tried and tested for more than a decade.

Here’s the complete lowdown on SmartSight (from the only clinic in Victoria that can do it).

What exactly is SmartSight laser eye surgery?

The first thing you need to know is that not all laser eye surgery techniques are the same. In fact there are three main ways of performing laser eye surgery, all with very different techniques. Medownick Laser Clinic routinely offers all three, and you can read more about each of them on this page. 

There’s LASIK, which most people have heard of and think of when anyone mentions “laser”. LASIK is a technique that involves cutting a flap in the cornea at the front of the eye, treating the tissue underneath, then sealing the flap back up.

There’s also PRK, which uses the laser to sculpt the cornea from above. (Medownick performs a more advanced form of this technique, known as Trans-PRK, which essentially vaporises the tissue with no cutting, and without the need for any instrumentation to touch the eye).

And then there is the “lenticular extraction” technique, which is what SmartSight surgery does. Soft, cool light from an advanced, German-engineered femtosecond laser, known as the “ATOS” by Schwind, is used to segment a tiny sliver of tissue in the cornea, known as a lenticule. The laser then creates an incision only a couple of millimetres wide, through which the surgeon removes the lenticule.

With the lenticule gone, the curvature of the cornea is ever-so-gently reshaped, so you can see with 20/20 vision or better in just one day, without the need for glasses or contact lenses. Lenticular extraction surgery has been safely and successfully performed for more than a decade.

What are the results of SmartSight eye surgery?

In a word: outstanding. The vast majority of our patients gain better than 20/20 vision in less than one day. For many, the improvement to their vision is immediate – they notice it while still in the laser room – and it gets better and better in the hours that follow.

We are thrilled that our patients are able to experience this life-changing vision without feeling any pain, with no downtime, and being able to get back to everyday life straight away.

SmartSight vs LASIK

If you want to compare SmartSight to LASIK, you could imagine LASIK as being like open-heart surgery, while SmartSight is the keyhole surgery. In the end both are safe and both give you great vision results, but given the choice, most people would prefer to have the smallest, least-invasive incision possible, and that’s SmartSight.

SmartSight vs SMILE™

Many people want to know what is the difference between SmartSight and SMILE™. Both are lenticular extraction laser eye techniques. But the difference is that SmartSight uses a much newer technology, the Schwind ATOS laser, so patients can benefit from the scientific advances gained in recent years.

SmartSight is the first femtosecond laser to utilise rotational eye tracking. This means that when you lie down under the laser, it is able to track the rotation, or movements, of your eyes with pinpoint accuracy, resulting in a more accurate vision correction for you.

In addition, the more modern SmartSight laser has an advanced algorithm that removes less tissue from your eye than SMILE™, making it a less invasive procedure.

SmartSight has excellent tear-film recovery, and maintains the structural integrity of your eye. Ultimately, due to SmartSight’s intelligent eye-tracking and pupil recognition technology, patients can expect to receive more accurate visual results, especially if they are correcting astigmatism.

What does SmartSight surgery cost?

Like all laser eye surgery techniques, SmartSight laser often turns out to be a lot cheaper than people expect, especially when they add up the cost of buying new prescription glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses over the years and decades.

At Medownick, the price of laser eye surgery ranges from $2200 to $3500 per eye, and SmartSight is at the higher end of that range due to the licensing and consumables that we are required to pay for every surgery performed. You may find that some clinics charge less than we do for lenticular extraction surgery, but that is because we use the newer technology.

Of course at Medownick we also offer a generous "friends and family" discount, and interest-free payment plans to approved applicants so you can spread the cost of SmartSight surgery across six, 12 or 18 months to make it very budget-friendly.

Where can I get SmartSight laser?

If you’re in Victoria, the only place to get SmartSight is at Medownick Laser Clinic. Not everyone is suitable, so the best way to find out if it’s right for you is to come into our clinic for a free vision assessment. We’ll be able to let you know exactly what’s going on with your vision, and recommend the best way for you to lose your glasses (whether it’s SmartSight or one of our other highly-successful procedures). This assessment is absolutely free, and there’s no obligation for you to go ahead with anything.

To book your free assessment on a day and time that suits you, simply click "book a free assessment" on our home page here.