Alcon is introducing its latest technology in refractive vision correction: wavelight plus, the first fully personalized laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) treatment.
The innovative technology is coming to the North American commercial market.
Where to start?
With the product, of course.
What makes it groundbreaking: Wavelight plus represents a fully-tailored treatment approach for refractive surgery.
- How it does this: By utilizing a next-generation ray tracing technology—enabled by Alcon’s Sightmap diagnostic device.
Tell me about Sightmap.
This is an all-in-one device that measures a patient’s unique optical system using their individual optical and geometric parameters:
- Anterior chamber depth and lens position
- Anterior cornea
- Axial length
- Biometry
- Corneal tomography
- Pachymetry
- Posterior cornea
- Subjective refraction and K values
- Wavefront
Importantly: These optical system measurements are done without the use of nomogram inputs.
Go on …
By using those aforementioned ray-tracing methods, the device accounts for a patient’s eye shape and vision needs to:
- Precisely create a 3D model to guide the desired refractive correction
- Tailor the ablation profile for a more personalized procedure
The intent: Using this 3D model to improve visual acuity (VA) and correct more complex vision problems (such as myopia).
So, is there any clinical evidence to support this?
There is. Real-world evidence, in fact, that concluded this “ray-tracing-based LASIK” is safe and effective for myopic correction both with and without astigmatism.
Here’s a look at the study:
- The design: A single-site, non-randomized private practice clinical setting involving 200 patients (400 eyes) who underwent wavelight plus LASIK to correct myopia and myopic astigmatism.
- The setup: Patients were treated with the wavelight plus and underwent optical assessments using the Sightmap device (see here for details)
- The measurements: Taken at 3 months postop, included VA, refractive error, and whole eye higher-order aberrations (HoAs)
And those findings?
Per Alcon, 100% of myopic eyes included in this 2023 study were reported to achieve an uncorrected distance VA (UDVA) of 20/20 at 3 months.
Also at this timepoint:
- 89% and 50% of myopic eyes achieved a postop UDVA of 20/16 and 20/12.5, respectively.
- 98% of eyes achieved a postop UDVA within 1 line of their preop corrected distance VA (CDVA)
- 94% of eyes achieve the same (or better) postop CDVA versus their preop CDVA
To note: The procedure was also found to result in a small statistically significant increase in HoAs (though not clinically significant) as well as a statistically significant reduction in spherical aberration.
See here for additional supporting clinical research.
That bodes well for patients … so how can I find this device?
Ophthalmic surgeons in the United States and Canada are advised to reach out to their local Alcon representative for more information.
In terms of availability: The wavelight plus’s Canadian commercial launch is planned for “late 2025.”
And beyond North America: The refractive treatment was first launched in China and is currently already available in several European and Asia-Pacific markets.