I'm in India right now and they have a variety of wavefront lasers available here (some of them more recent than anything available in USA). I have a -7.25 in both eyes plus astigmatism. Can someone give me some information on which is the most advanced?
1. Zyoptix 100- seems to be older than the Allegretto
2. Mel 80 (Carl Zeiss)- has little information other than that the spot size is 70mm (same as Allegretto), but doesn't mention repetition speed. Apparently it ablates more tissue than the Allegretto, but am curious to know whether the software has been upgraded since then.
3. Wavelight Allegretto 400mhz- has the most info on it. They also have the Wavelight Concerto 500mhz here but it is extremely expensive (3 times the price)- so I'd only consider the the Allegretto.
4. Schwind Esiris- referred as the Rolls Royce of lasers on the site- but seems to use a different technology than the Allegretto. Here is what the surgeon claimed: "I use both abberometrically linked data as well as corneal wavefront data,for this we recieved the prize at the annual meeting of the american society of cataract and laser surgeons in san diego in april 2007. The 400 as well failed with its abberometric linkage and the company discontinued manufacturing the abberometer."
5. Nidex EC5000 CXIII on Navex platform Spot -combination of flying spot and broad beam, Moria M2 microkeratome. The doctor I spoke to said he has both the Nidek and the Allegretto 400 and said that the Nidek produced better results for him. (But from what I read on the net, many doctors say the opposite- which is confusing).
I heard that the Pulzar Z1 by Customvis is available in India, but haven't been able to find out where. Does everyone who has the Allegretto 400mhz have the same Allegro system, Eye-Q, and software? Or will I have to ask them individually?
When Glenn Hagele mentioned that the "newest version" of Wavelight having custom wavefront ablation, was he referring to the Allegretto 400mhz or the Concerto 500mhz?
By custom wavefront ablation, was he referring to wavefront optimized/guided/ or something else entirely?
I'm looking to have the most advanced laser technology on the market. I understand that newer lasers have less clinical studies on them- and I'm fine with that. I have worked in FDA clinical trials before and I realize that by the time sufficient data has come out for a laser, a newer technology has already taken its place. With this in mind, I don't mind taking a risk on a newer laser provided its specs "should likely" produce better results for me.
A discussion and comparison of the lasers above is what most people on this forum would like to see. Any volunteers?
Kness