With the rising economy and increase of per capita income, the Indian Medical sector is at a rise. Medical tourism is India is a rising concept which is slowly and gradually getting very popular in the West. Patients are travelling from all over the world, specially developed countries, to India to get medical treatment. Why ? The advantages include five-star facilities, high quality doctors, very low costs (almost 1/3rd as compared to the developed countries and in most cases, even lower) and finally, a great tourist destination.
A recent study by McKinsey estimated that India's medical tourism industry could yield as much as $2.2 billion in annual revenue by 2012. Airport pick-up & drop, visa assistance, interpreter services, sight seeing, arranging forex services - hospitals are here to service the patients from the west in full energy.
Eye surgery in India is one of the highly growing sectors in medical tourism. Several hospitals and clinics are now fully equipped to handle the inflow of patients from the West with latest technology, highly trained doctors and of course, customized treatment for every patient.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Refractive Errors
The eye is like a camera. In a camera, light passes through a lens system back onto the film. The cornea and lens are at the front of the eye (anterior chamber) and are similar to a camera's lens system. The retina is located at the back of the eye (posterior chamber) and is similar to the camera's film. In the normal eye, light rays of an image pass through the cornea and the lens and are focussed directly on the retina to produce a clear image.
Myopia (Nearsightedness)
In a myopic eye, the light rays are passed through the cornea and lens but the point at which they converge (focus) is in front of the retina, not on the retina. This configuration allows clear images of near objects but not those that are far away. Non- surgical treatment options for myopia include glasses and contact lenses. Surgical treatment options include ALK, clear lens extraction, LASEK, LASIK, LASEK, phakic IOL and RK. While there are numerous surgical options available, not all individuals are good candidates for specific procedures. Patients should review these options in depth with their physicians prior to making any final decisions.
Hyperopia (Farsightedness)
In a hyperopic eye, the light rays do not converge or focus by the time they reach the retina. Hyperopic patients can focus on more distant objects, but not images that are close at hand. Non-surgical treatment options include glasses and contact lenses. Surgical treatment options include clear lens extraction, CK, LASIK, LTK, phakic IOL, and PRK. While there are numerous surgical options available, not all individuals are good candidates for specific procedures. Patients should review these options in depth with their physicians prior to making any final decisions.
Astigmatism
With astigmatism, the rays of light do not converge into a single point but form a line on the retina. There are various types of astigmatism included regular, mixed and irregular astigmatism. Currently, excimer lasers in the US are approved for treatment of regular and mixed astigmatism. Recent advances in technology now allow for the therapeutic treatment of induced irregular astigmatism. In the future, this application may be expanded to include all types of irregular astigmatism. Patients who believe they have astigmatism should discuss this subject in further detail with their physician to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms in their case.
Presbyopia
Presbyopia affects people as they enter their 40s. Caused by changes within the eye's crystalline lens as one ages, presbyopia affects everyone, and eventually everyone will need to wear reading glasses or bifocals. Presbyopia is not affected by the laser treatment.
Myopia (Nearsightedness)
In a myopic eye, the light rays are passed through the cornea and lens but the point at which they converge (focus) is in front of the retina, not on the retina. This configuration allows clear images of near objects but not those that are far away. Non- surgical treatment options for myopia include glasses and contact lenses. Surgical treatment options include ALK, clear lens extraction, LASEK, LASIK, LASEK, phakic IOL and RK. While there are numerous surgical options available, not all individuals are good candidates for specific procedures. Patients should review these options in depth with their physicians prior to making any final decisions.
Hyperopia (Farsightedness)
In a hyperopic eye, the light rays do not converge or focus by the time they reach the retina. Hyperopic patients can focus on more distant objects, but not images that are close at hand. Non-surgical treatment options include glasses and contact lenses. Surgical treatment options include clear lens extraction, CK, LASIK, LTK, phakic IOL, and PRK. While there are numerous surgical options available, not all individuals are good candidates for specific procedures. Patients should review these options in depth with their physicians prior to making any final decisions.
Astigmatism
With astigmatism, the rays of light do not converge into a single point but form a line on the retina. There are various types of astigmatism included regular, mixed and irregular astigmatism. Currently, excimer lasers in the US are approved for treatment of regular and mixed astigmatism. Recent advances in technology now allow for the therapeutic treatment of induced irregular astigmatism. In the future, this application may be expanded to include all types of irregular astigmatism. Patients who believe they have astigmatism should discuss this subject in further detail with their physician to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms in their case.
Presbyopia
Presbyopia affects people as they enter their 40s. Caused by changes within the eye's crystalline lens as one ages, presbyopia affects everyone, and eventually everyone will need to wear reading glasses or bifocals. Presbyopia is not affected by the laser treatment.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Lasik Technology
The following are a few examples of patients of Dr. Ash evaluated with the Visante Anterior Segment OCT from Carl Zeiss Meditech.
Below are the images, one day after surgery with 60kHz IntraLase all-laser LASIK flaps performed by Dr. Ash at Northern California Laser Center in Modesto, California.
This IntraLase all-laser LASIK flap has a very consistent thickness ranging from 126 to 135 microns. Also note the edge. In the image below see the same edge above but magnified. The IntraLase has the capability of cutting at 70 degree angle down to the plane of the Flap. This vertical edge creates an effect very similar to a Manhole cover... or think of it as a top of a pumpkin. The flap will then fit perfectly back in place. One of the major issues that had always plagued LASIK surgeons with the Metallic Blade microkeratomes, has been the wrinkling of flaps. Since the IntraLase flap fits perfectly back in place, these seemingly minor wrinkles have been virtually eliminated.
Below is a Visante image of a patient's cornea that had LASIK with Amadeus II Blade microkeratome. Please note how the peripheral corneal flap (the top orange number) shows the edges of the flap to be as thick as 186 microns, yet the center is only 142 microns. That 44 micron difference may appear minor, but it represents about a 10% gouge in cornea that may destablize and result in weakening of the cornea.
Look carefully at the edge of the flap in the upper image. See the flat yet rough transition that the blade makes. When the flap is placed back in position at the end of the surgery, there is virtually no possible way to make the flap fit back perfectly. As a surgeon that has written papers on treatment of LASIK flap wrinkles, I am excited not to have to revisit my previous research work. IntraLase has virtually eliminated all these complications. See the image below of a cornea that had wrinkles from Metallic Blade Microkeratome.
This picture shows the wrinkles in the metallic blade LASIK flap. These ultra-fine irregularities reduce visual quality. My research works with Dr. Roger F. Steinert (now at UC, Irvine) published in Ophthalmology in April 2004 and with follow-up & expanded data published in June 2007 focus specifically on how to treat these problems. This is an actual photo of a patient in our study. I am ever so glad for IntraLase that has virtually eliminated these wrinkles.
The IntraLase has introduced an incredible level of accuracy and precision to the laser vision correction surgery. By creating such a perfectly consistent flap, one can plan on a surgical outcome and expect the outcome to a much larger extent. Additionally this flap edge has revolutionized the surgical outcomes. One of the major problems that plagues all LASIK surgeons with traditional blade microkeratomes is wrinkles in the corneal flap. These wrinkles reduced the quality of vision. The flaps from the microkeratome have a tapered edge that allow for microscopic "slippage" of the flaps that result in wrinkling. The IntraLase creates a perfect 70 degree flap edge that acts much like a man-hole cover, and once surgery is complete the man-hole is placed back into position with perfect fit. Wrinkle and cell growth under the edge of the flap have been virtually eliminated paving the way for absolutely perfect results. IntraLase has advanced the safety level of LASIK to an entirely new level. The result of intense study of LASIK in Top Gun naval pilots clearly show superiority of IntraLase over the traditional microkeratomes. At Northern California Laser Center, Dr. Ash delivers the iLASIK - IntraLase, CustomVue LASIK with Iris Registration - just as performed at the military LASIK surgery centers for the Top Gun pilots, Air Force Pilots, and now the NASA astronauts.
Below are the images, one day after surgery with 60kHz IntraLase all-laser LASIK flaps performed by Dr. Ash at Northern California Laser Center in Modesto, California.
This IntraLase all-laser LASIK flap has a very consistent thickness ranging from 126 to 135 microns. Also note the edge. In the image below see the same edge above but magnified. The IntraLase has the capability of cutting at 70 degree angle down to the plane of the Flap. This vertical edge creates an effect very similar to a Manhole cover... or think of it as a top of a pumpkin. The flap will then fit perfectly back in place. One of the major issues that had always plagued LASIK surgeons with the Metallic Blade microkeratomes, has been the wrinkling of flaps. Since the IntraLase flap fits perfectly back in place, these seemingly minor wrinkles have been virtually eliminated.
Below is a Visante image of a patient's cornea that had LASIK with Amadeus II Blade microkeratome. Please note how the peripheral corneal flap (the top orange number) shows the edges of the flap to be as thick as 186 microns, yet the center is only 142 microns. That 44 micron difference may appear minor, but it represents about a 10% gouge in cornea that may destablize and result in weakening of the cornea.
Look carefully at the edge of the flap in the upper image. See the flat yet rough transition that the blade makes. When the flap is placed back in position at the end of the surgery, there is virtually no possible way to make the flap fit back perfectly. As a surgeon that has written papers on treatment of LASIK flap wrinkles, I am excited not to have to revisit my previous research work. IntraLase has virtually eliminated all these complications. See the image below of a cornea that had wrinkles from Metallic Blade Microkeratome.
This picture shows the wrinkles in the metallic blade LASIK flap. These ultra-fine irregularities reduce visual quality. My research works with Dr. Roger F. Steinert (now at UC, Irvine) published in Ophthalmology in April 2004 and with follow-up & expanded data published in June 2007 focus specifically on how to treat these problems. This is an actual photo of a patient in our study. I am ever so glad for IntraLase that has virtually eliminated these wrinkles.
The IntraLase has introduced an incredible level of accuracy and precision to the laser vision correction surgery. By creating such a perfectly consistent flap, one can plan on a surgical outcome and expect the outcome to a much larger extent. Additionally this flap edge has revolutionized the surgical outcomes. One of the major problems that plagues all LASIK surgeons with traditional blade microkeratomes is wrinkles in the corneal flap. These wrinkles reduced the quality of vision. The flaps from the microkeratome have a tapered edge that allow for microscopic "slippage" of the flaps that result in wrinkling. The IntraLase creates a perfect 70 degree flap edge that acts much like a man-hole cover, and once surgery is complete the man-hole is placed back into position with perfect fit. Wrinkle and cell growth under the edge of the flap have been virtually eliminated paving the way for absolutely perfect results. IntraLase has advanced the safety level of LASIK to an entirely new level. The result of intense study of LASIK in Top Gun naval pilots clearly show superiority of IntraLase over the traditional microkeratomes. At Northern California Laser Center, Dr. Ash delivers the iLASIK - IntraLase, CustomVue LASIK with Iris Registration - just as performed at the military LASIK surgery centers for the Top Gun pilots, Air Force Pilots, and now the NASA astronauts.
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