Advances in refractive corneal lenticule extraction

Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology, vol. 11, pp. 113–121

Abstract

Refractive errors are the leading cause of reversible visual impairment worldwide. In addition to the desired spectacle independence, refractive procedures can improve quality of life, working ability, and daily working performance. Refractive corneal lenticule extraction (RCLE) is a relatively new technique, dependent only on a femtosecond laser (FS). This leads to potential benefits over laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) including a quicker recovery of dry eye disease, a larger functional optical zone, and no flap-related complications. SMILE, available with the VisuMax FS (Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Jena, Germany), is the most established RCLE application, offering visual and refractive outcomes comparable to LASIK. SmartSight (SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions GmbH, Kleinostheim, Germany) and CLEAR (Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems AG, Port, Switzerland) are two new RCLE applications that received Conformité Européenne (CE) approval in 2020. In this article, we review refractive and visual outcomes, advantages, and disadvantages of RCLE and also report on the latest advances in RCLE systems.

Authors 2

1. Matthias Fuest Aachen Department of Ophthalmology

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Ophthalmology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

2. Jodhbir Singh Mehta corresponding

   National University of Singapore · Duke-NUS Medical School · Nanyang Technological University · Singapore National Eye Center · Singapore Eye Research Institute

   Affiliation as printed

   Eye-Academic Clinical Program, Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, Singapore

   School of Material Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

   Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore

   Tissue Engineering and Stem Cell Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore

   Eye-Academic Clinical Program, Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School

   Singapore National Eye Centre

   Tissue Engineering and Stem Cell Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute