Our Technology

One of the world leading features of the B&L Technolas Zyopitx excimer laser is the iris recognition system. In 2003 the Technolas laser was the first to bring this technology to excimer laser surgery and in 2008 we installed the new Advanced Control Eye (ACE) tracking system.

The pattern of a human iris is more unique than that of an individual's fingerprint. Iris recognition technology originally used for high level security purposes has been adapted for medical use by B&L Technolas enabling automatic identification of each eye improving the safety and accuracy of laser treatment. Prior to treatment the unique "fingerprint" of the human iris is captured, from this a detailed digital map of each individual's eye is created. Iris Recognition has the potential to distinguish between every eye in the entire earth's population making it virtually impossible to treat the wrong patient or the wrong eye.

The new ACE tracking system adds active dynamic iris tracking to this by recognising the iris 25 times per second during the excimer laser treatment. This keeps the treatment perfectly aligned in the correct axis throughout the treatment.

As the laser treatment is delivered, any movement of the eye, in any direction, is mirrored by the multi-dimensional eye tracker.

The Bausch & Lomb Tecnolas Zyoptix excimer laser system has the most advanced eye tracking system available today. Using the Advanced Eye Tracking (ACE) system it closely follows all of the movements of the eye so that each pulse of the laser is placed precisely where it should be.

All modern excimer lasers will follow the movements of the eye by tracking the centre of the pupil. The ACE system not only follows right and left (X-axis) and up and down (Y-axis) movements but also tracks up and down (Z-axis) movements of the eye. Only the Technolas laser has active dynamic iris tracking that will also follow any rotational movements.

Iris recognition technology means that the B&L Zyoptix 100 laser is the only laser that actively tracks rotational movements of the eye. This is important as your eye can rotate by as much as 10 degrees when you go from the upright position to the lying position. If the treatment is rotated then it is a similar effect to what happens if you rotate your glasses. The iris recognition also takes into account any movement in the centre of the pupil between when it is dilated for the Zywave examination and when it is small during the laser treatment.

For your safety we have invested in a purpose built laser operating theatre. To get the best results from laser eye surgery the laser operating theatre conditions need to be carefully controlled.

Temperature and humidity control are important to achieve consistent rate of removal of corneal tissue (ablation rate). Keeping the air in the theatre clean and free from dust or lint is crucial. Our laser operating theatre has a surgical operating theatre quality air conditioning system.

HEPA filters

• We have three HEPA filters installed. To ensure thorough filtration of the air entering the laser theatre. HEPA filters are such fine filters that they function to filter out lint and bacteria. Minimising the chance of debris under the LASIK flap or the chance of an infection.

Positive Pressure

• 10-12 Pascal within the laser theatre helps prevent unfiltered air from entering the theatre when the door is opened.

Consistent temperature and humidity

• Need to be maintained to achieve predictable ablation rates of the cornea.
• If the temperature is higher then the cornea dries out and laser removes more corneal tissue and an over-correction can result. The reverse occurs if the temperature in the operating theatre is too low.
• If the humidity is higher then the cornea is wetter and the laser removes less tissue with each pulse increasing the chance of an under correction.
• Our laser theatre has sophisticated ducted air conditioning that uses chilled water to cool the air. It can both dehumidify and humidify the air in entering the laser operating theatre, enabling us to have stable consistent conditions in the laser theatre regardless of the outside temperature and humidity.

Our investment in the highest quality air conditioning system to maintain the best laser operating theatre conditions will increase your chance of the best possible result from your LASIK surgery.

Many of our patients have asked us, "What if there is a power cut during my laser treatment?" The answer is that we have an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that will take over and supply power to the laser for more than long enough to complete any treatment.

We have used a UPS since installing our first excimer laser in January 1997. We have a SOLA 610 UPS rated at 6000 volt-amps. The laser will run for more than 15 minutes following a power cut, more than enough to complete any procedure.

The SOLA 610 UPS provides on-line pure sine wave technology for perfect mains voltage reproduction and regulation. It means that no matter what happens to the mains voltage including current sags, "brown outs" or a power outage, the excimer laser is provided with continuous pure sine wave alternating current. Sensitive electronic equipment like the Bausch & Lomb Zyoptix 100 excimer laser works best with clean continuous power. 

The IntraLase FS60 femtosecond laser also has its own dedicated UPS.

A specialised corneal topography mapping device.

The Orbscan llz is the most sophisticated corneal topography device available. Its role is to evaluate the cornea before and after corrective eye laser surgery. Worldwide the Orbscan llz is considered to be the "gold standard" for the analysis of the cornea prior to corrective eye laser surgery.

It has earned this reputation due to the fact that unlike other corneal topography units, which only give an assessment of the front surface of the cornea, the Orbscan llz provides detailed maps of the front and back surfaces of the cornea.

In addition the Orbscan llz provides a detailed analysis of the thickness across the entire cornea, giving the surgeon information about where the thinnest point on the cornea is located.

The Bausch & Lomb Zywave
- evaluates the eyes "fingerprint" (higher order abberations)

The Zywave aberrometer uses wavefront technology. Wavefront technology was first applied in astronomy, allowing astronomers to move beyond the limitations of telescopes to image extraterrestrial objects that might have been obscured due to atmospheric aberrations.

The Zywave detects and measures the eyes "fingerprint" (higher order aberrations). Higher order aberrations are responsible for each individual eye focusing light in a unique pattern. Each patient's Zywave is specific and unique. Each component of the eye can contribute to higher order aberrations.

Generation of a wavefront with the Zywave:
A short pulse of low intensity red laser light is focused onto the back of the eye.

Analysis of a wavefront with the Zywave:
The reflected light from the back of the eye travels through the eye's optics (cornea and lens). This outgoing light forms the wavefront analysed by the Zywave.

The outgoing wavefront is analysed by passing it through an array of small lenses. These lenses focus the wavefront onto a CCD chip similar to that used in videos or in digital cameras. The pattern on the CCD chip is analysed by the Zywave software to create a picture of the wavefront for each individual eye.

Zyoptix Treatment Calculator Software

The Zyoptix Treatment Calculator software from Bausch & Lomb Surgical takes the information generated by the Orbscan llz and Zywave to generate the unique personalised treatment for your eyes. Three treatment personalised options are available:

• Zyoptix wavefront-guided
• Zyoptix aspheric
• Zyoptix tissue saving

Zyoptix Wavefront-Guided Treatments

These are personalised (customised) excimer laser treatments based upon wavefront analysis of your eye using the Bausch & Lomb Zywave aberrometer. They are designed to correct not just the myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism of the eye (lower-order optical aberrations), but also to correct the finer focusing problems of the human eye that can affect the quality of your vision (higher-order optical aberrations).

Zyoptix Wavefront-Guided treatments also incorporate iris recognition technology. By recognising the unique pattern of the iris of your eye on the Zywave and then again on the Zyoptix 100 excimer laser, the treatment pattern can be perfectly aligned to your eye. This is particularly useful in eyes with higher amounts of astigmatism.

Explaining the difference in wavefront between a perfectly focused eye and an eye with optical aberrations.

An eye that is perfectly focused has no lower or higher order aberrations. Reflected light rays will emerge from the eye as a plane wavefront, or a straight line. However, if the eye has optical aberrations, the wavefront will not be a straight line. The resulting wavefront will be a unique shape, specific to that eye. It is as specific and unique as a person's fingerprint. Zyoptix Wavefront-Guided treatments are designed to correct the wavefront pattern of your eye.

Zyoptix Aspheric Treatments

Aspheric treatments have become our personalised treatment of choice in eyes with low to moderate amounts of myopia and low astigmatism. An aspheric treatment is designed to maintain the ratio of the curvature of the central part of your cornea to the peripheral part of the cornea. Maintaining this ratio prevents or minimises an optical problem called spherical aberration. Most standard excimer laser treatments for myopia can cause spherical aberration as they flatten the curvature of the central cornea much more than the peripheral cornea. Spherical aberration is one of the most common causes of loss of quality of vision in low light situations after excimer laser surgery. Studies have shown that Zyoptix Aspheric Treatments can prevent the eye from suffering the degradation of visual quality caused by spherical aberration.

Zyoptix Tissue-Saving Treatments

These treatments are designed to remove the minimum amount of corneal tissue for any given correction and diameter of treatment. They are the least “tissue-hungry” treatments available and are personalised to the curvature of your cornea.

The Zycard

Each High Definition LASIK ®  treatment requires using a Zycard. The Zycard contains lenses made from quartz and has a smart chip on it. The Zycard converts the 2mm flat-top beam to either a 2mm rounded (Gaussian) profile beam or to a 1mm rounded (Gaussian) profile beam used to do the fine, precise tissue removal.