Debra Li

debra_lidan@163.com

THE introduction of the Zeiss VisuMax 800 device has reduced the laser refractive surgery time from 23 seconds to 10 seconds per eye, ensuring better outcomes and an improved patient experience, a press conference was told at Shenzhen Bright Eye Hospital in Nanshan District on Saturday.

The hospital is among the first in the city to adopt this revolutionary equipment.

During the procedure, the surgeon uses a laser to carve out a lens-shaped disc, or “lenticule,” in just 8 to 10 seconds per eye. The lenticule is then extracted through a 2 to 4-millimeter side incision to adjust the shape and curvature of the cornea, meeting corrective refraction requirements and restoring normal vision.

With its faster laser speed, the SMILE Pro (small incision lenticule extraction pro) procedure reduces the size of the incision and allows for more precise corneal tissue removal. This not only ensures higher quality visual outcomes but also reduces patient discomfort and shortens recovery time.

Although U.S. and Australian studies have shown the procedure is effective for patients with myopia up to -10.00 diopters and astigmatism up to -5.00 diopters, Xu Yangtao, vice president of the local hospital, recommends the surgery for those with myopia less than -7.00 diopters and astigmatism less than -2.00 diopters for safety reasons.

First introduced overseas in 2021, the SMILE Pro procedure has been performed on over 400,000 eyes worldwide, including nearly 2,000 cases within the Bright Eye Hospital chain. Research indicates that the procedure reduces the risk of suction loss — which can affect surgical outcomes — by 94% (from 0.5% to 0.03%), making it an almost fail-proof surgery.

Liu Quan, a veteran surgeon who has performed over 100,000 SMILE procedures since its introduction in China in 2011, explained that in addition to hardware upgrades such as the ultra-high-performance femtosecond laser, SMILE Pro also includes a software upgrade. This allows precise surgical targeting by tracking eyeball movements. The previously available SMILE 4.0 was primarily a software update on the earlier version.

Mi Huilin, a patient who underwent the procedure a day earlier, said the surgery “was done so quickly” that she didn’t even feel anxious.