Solid-state laser produces promising results at 1 year

ROME — The Lasersoft solid-state laser has produced promising results in laser refractive procedures with 1 year follow-up, according to Matteo Piovella, MD.

Dr. Piovella presented his results with the device here at the winter meeting of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. He reported on LASIK in 37 eyes of 37 patients using the Lasersoft no-gas, solid-state ultraviolet laser from Katana.

At 1-year follow-up he reported no postoperative complications. Patients have achieved a mean visual acuity of 0.78 +/-0.14 with a mean refraction of –0.04 D. He reported no significant variability in refraction, as all eyes reached refractive stability within 1 month.

Dr. Piovella said he is getting good results with the laser because it has a small spot size and it applies less energy to the eye than excimer lasers, therefore causing less damage to the cornea.

“The main characteristic of the laser is spot size,” he explained. “Common spot size for excimer lasers is between 0.8 mm and 1 mm, where Lasersoft uses a 0.2-mm beam.”

With a smaller beam, the Lasersoft needs more velocity to cover the same area as a wider beam, so the eye tracker operates at 1 kHz he said.

“[The Lasersoft] applies less energy to the cornea, and the theoretical speculation is that this leads to less scarring,” Dr. Piovella said.

He added that the smaller beam “overlaps a true gaussian spot, ensuring an extremely homogeneous corneal surface.”

With the smaller beam, “Lasersoft may well fit the present requirement for custom ablation,” he said.

While not giving the laser a full endorsement, Dr. Piovella stressed that the laser has a promising future.

“I don’t want to support the idea that this is the best technology available today, but it could be a very good development for ablation. This is the reason for which I have until now had great interest regarding this technology, but it is at its starting point,” he said.