How Cutting-Edge Refractive Technology is Used at Grand Junction ICON Eyecare

March 27th, 2022
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Do you have problems viewing the beautiful mountains in Colorado off in the distance, reading a book, or driving at night? You may have refractive vision errors. We can treat these challenges with vision correction surgeries, such as LASIK, PRK, and CLE. You can learn more about the technology and the procedure of each of these surgeries below. Always remember that you can contact us if you have any questions or if you want to discuss your options for seeing clearly unassisted by contacts or glasses.

LASIK and PRK

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At ICON Eyecare in Grand Junction, CO, we are proud to offer LASIK surgery and the PRK procedure to our patients from Salt Lake to Denver. Our local Grand Junction eye doctors and eye care team offer personalized diagnostic services and LASIK and PRK treatments with the assistance of our on-site state-of-the-art machines and lasers.

LASIK and PRK are effective treatments for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, as they both focus on reshaping the cornea, the outer layer of your eye. In this way, they change the way your eye focuses on light. When the light transmits properly through your eye, the retina at the back of the eye can transform and transmit the light as images to your brain. In effect, as a result of both of these surgeries, your retina and your brain receive accurate and clear images from the world around you.

While LASIK and PRK are similar, they accomplish their purpose and results in different ways. With LASIK surgery, the eye doctor creates a thin flap into the cornea in order to reshape the cornea. In the PRK procedure, the eye doctor removes the outermost layer of the cornea to reshape the cornea. Each technique requires the utmost precision and care, which is why our team uses the modern

Wavelight® Laser Suite to perform the surgeries and CONTOURA® Vision testing and the Vario Diagnostic Device for preliminary testing and candidacy determination.

LASIK Technology

At ICON Eyecare, our eye care team uses the most advanced laser technology available, the Wavelight® Laser Suite, to complete the LASIK procedure. The on-site Wavelight Suite allows our skilled surgeons to perform completely bladeless surgeries, courtesy of precise femtosecond and excimer lasers. These lasers offer a great many advantages to our patients, such as:

  • A personalized surgery tailored to your unique eyes and your particular eye disorder.
  • Higher chances of complete vision correction due to the precise movements of lasers
  • Reduced risks of complications during surgery and during the healing process
  • Faster healing process as the surgery is non-invasive and does not require stitches

When performing LASIK surgery, the eye surgeon begins by using the femtosecond laser, an infrared laser that uses short ultrasound pulses to create precise, thin cuts. It allows the surgeon to create a personalized flap for your specific eye shape and size. Additionally, with a femtosecond laser, the surgeon can create a quick, defined flap from an angle. Since this is the case, they can make an oval flap that suits the shape of the cornea better than the round shape created by a blade.

Next, the eye surgeon folds the flap back to reveal the cornea. The excimer laser is an ultraviolet laser that carefully disrupts and removes tissue from parts of the cornea to gently reshape your cornea according to your vision correction. The flap lays back and heals quickly on its own since there is no need for stitches.

Feel free to check out or LASIK online self-test prior to your visit.

PRK Technology

Our ICON Eyecare team also uses the Wavelight® Laser Suite for our bladeless PRK surgery. However, since no flap is created, we only need to use the advanced excimer laser. Depending on your specific situation, the eye surgeon may use a liquid solution in order to remove the outermost layer of your cornea. Next, the surgeon works directly on the cornea with the excimer laser. This laser reshapes the cornea according to your eye condition to achieve your vision correction.

Overall, the Wavelight Laser Suite allows for a quick and efficient, precise, and safe laser procedure. You may also enjoy a faster healing time since this procedure is completely bladeless and requires no stitches, as the epithelium heals and grows back on its own.

LASIK and PRK Testing or Candidacy Determination

If you are suffering from blurry or unclear vision, you may be an excellent candidate for LASIK or PRK surgery. At ICON Eyecare, we rely on our modern CONTOURA® Vision testing and Vario Diagnostic Device to determine if our patients are eligible and to create a treatment plan.

With guidance from a qualified ICON Eyecare specialist in Grand Junction, the Vario machine takes exact measurements from your eye and transmits them to the CONTOURA® Vision device. CONTOURA® Vision maps 22,000 topographical points from the surface of the eye, giving us an incredibly detailed three-dimensional look at your eye. There are significant benefits to this advanced technology, namely:

  • It is non-invasive. Measuring and mapping is a contactless, painless procedure via the Vario.
  • It shows us the one-of-a-kind shape of your cornea. While an eye with perfect vision has an even, round shape, an eye with imperfect vision typically has flattened, sharp or steep, or uneven curves. When we have an accurate view of all the irregularities, we can determine which treatment is best suited to your eye.
  • It allows us to determine if you meet all the eligibility requirements for the surgery. If you do not fit the criteria for LASIK, you may be eligible for PRK or other treatment plans.
  • It gives us an excellent view of the fine details of your cornea and transfers that information to the Wavelight Laser Suite during surgery. In this way, we can tailor your surgery to meet your specific needs.
  • Depending on the condition of your eye, the eye surgeon removes tissue in certain areas to accommodate clear vision.
  • Many people have significant differences between their eyes, requiring the surgeon to perform two distinct procedures in each eye.

Is the Wavelight Suite On-Site?

When you come to ICON Eyecare for LASIK or PRK treatment, you can expect to experience our advanced Wavelight Laser Suite for yourself. Our laser suite does not travel to other locations. We invite all patients to make an appointment and visit our convenient location in Grand Junction.

CLE

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At ICON Eyecare, we can diagnose and effectively treat many eye disorders that cannot be improved through LASIK or PRK. Our local eyecare team uses Clear Lens Extraction (CLE) to treat extreme nearsightedness, farsightedness, and age-related presbyopia (decreased ability to read without glasses).

The CLE procedure is like cataract surgery. However, it is done prior to the appearance of any cataracts. When an eye surgeon performs the CLE procedure, they remove the natural lens of the eye. They replace it with an artificial special intraocular lens or an IOL. As each of these steps requires a careful and calculated process, we use advanced technology to perform the procedure and to determine the IOL that best suits your eyes.

CLE Technology

At ICON Eyecare Grand Junction, we provide the best lenses for our CLE patients, including Alcon’s Vivity lens or Johnson and Johnson’s Synergy lens. The Synergy lenses restore your eye’s ability to clearly focus on near, midrange, or distant objects.

As these lenses mimic the natural lens of the eye, you do not need to adjust the lenses manually. Rather, the eye and brain adjust them to the proper focus as necessary. The Vivity lenses are non-diffractive, smooth lenses letting you see from far to intermediate distances. Depending on your specific eye condition, the eye doctor will determine which one suits your eyesight needs.

Intraoperative Wavefront Aberrometry and the CLE Procedure

The eye surgeon begins the CLE surgery by creating a small incision in the cornea, or clear part of your eye, to get to the natural lens of the eye. They use a special phacoemulsification tool emitting ultrasonic waves to break up the natural lens of the eye into very small pieces. A suction tool vacuums up all the pieces to clean up the area. Once completed, we use the Intraoperative Wavefront Aberrometry (ORA) to measure the refractive power of your eye.

In other words, we can view and measure how the light beam moves through your eye. In this way, we can select the proper IOL that assists you in moving light properly towards the retina to transmit clear images. This modern technology allows for sharper, clearer corrective vision procedures.

Refractive Treatment Options at ICON Eyecare in Grand Junction

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At ICON Eyecare in Grand Junction, CO, we are committed to providing the latest technology to all our patients from Denver to Salt Lake. We believe that everyone deserves access to the safest, most effective eye care treatments. In this way, we provide our patients with potential freedom from traditional methods of treatment such as glasses and contact lenses.

With expert skills and state-of-the-art equipment, we can help you achieve your greatest vision possible. Contact us today for an appointment!

Request An Appointment.

Give us a phone call at (970) 256-0400 Monday – Friday, 8am-5pm to schedule a consultation.

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