S. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery in Moscow Now Offers SMILE Vision Correction Surgery

S. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Federal State Institution (EMFSI) in Moscow has launched a new kind of vision correction surgery using SMILE technology.

In the Laser Surgery Department, ZEISS VisuMax femtosecond laser has been installed by OPTEС engineers. The Eye Microsurgery staff have completed a training course and started performing operations with the help of this minimally invasive technology. Now, all key technologies, from photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) to ReLEx SMILE, are available to the patients of Moscow S. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery. This will allow the EMFSI personnel to further ensure their individual approach to patient treatment owing to the novel laser technologies of refractive surgery.

SMILE (small incision lenticule extraction) technology was developed by Carl Zeiss Meditec company, a recognized leader in the field of ophthalmology. ReLEx SMILE is used to treat short-sightedness, myopic astigmatism, and their combination. The procedure is painless, involves minimal surgical intervention, and takes only about several minutes.

The surgery is performed using ZEISS VisuMax femtosecond laser only. With the help of a laser beam, a lens-shaped bit of tissue (lenticule) inside the cornea is created according to the preset parameters, which can then be extracted through a small incision, just 2–4 mm, on the corneal surface. The procedure involves neither corneal flap formation nor corneal stroma access. No other laser is necessary for ablation.

The number of the SMILE surgeries has exceeded 1 million in the world. In Russia and the CIS countries, this kind of surgery is performed in more than 20 ophthalmological centers and in most Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery branches.

The first EMFSI branch to have mastered SMILE was the one in Yekaterinburg. As part of the program for experience sharing and training for SMILE surgery, Oleg Kostin, Head of the Yekaterinburg EMFSI Department of Refractive Surgery, performed the first surgeries together with his counterparts from Moscow.

Over 320,000 surgeries have been carried out in EMFSI over 30 years. At the clinic’s disposal are all state-of-the-art laser technologies that enable to correct any refractive disorders. In addition, ZEISS VisuMax femtosecond laser is going to be actively involved in the research by EMFSI, including the project devoted to the establishment of the cornea tissue bank.