The MEL80 Machine

Zeiss MEL 80™ Laser

Clear Advantage is the first and only practice in New England offering advanced LASIK treatments using the ultra-precise Zeiss Mel80 system. As of August 2006, this was the latest laser to be approved by the Federal Drug Administration. The new MEL80™ is a fifth-generation laser and one of the fastest lasers in the world.

Worldwide, there are over 2000 MEL 80™ lasers installed, and the device has already proven itself as one of the leading excimer laser systems available.

In the FDA clinical trials, 93 percent of patients treated with the laser was able to see 20/20 without further correction and 85 percent achieved a result within one half of a diopter of the intended correction.

The new MEL 80™ is extremely fast, shortening treatment time considerably. This shortened exposure time helps enable a faster visual recovery. The MEL 80™ also has a new, ultra-fast eye tracker. Your correction will be performed very precisely without dilating your pupil.

This laser has the smallest spot size of any US laser with a 0.7mm Gaussian beam Smaller treatment spots are similar in comparing more pixels on your screen to enhance the resolution. This feature allows the finest corrections, with very smooth customized treatment surfaces.

In addition, the MEL 80™ laser incorporates treatment optimization tools for maintaining the round, prolate contour of the cornea, which improves vision outcomes under dim light and at night. As a result, this tool for all-laser LASIK is greatly beneficial for our patients, and we are proud to offer such cutting-edge technology.

DaVinci Femto Bladeless Laser System

Davinci Femtosecond Bladeless Laser System, used by LASIK surgeons at Clear Advantage Laser

The first step in vision correction is to create a thin flap in the cornea to expose the corneal layer beneath the surface. This is where the excimer laser does its work in reshaping the cornea. A hinged flap is created on the corneal surface and the surgeon folds it gently back for treatment and replaces it afterward.

Traditionally this has been done by using a mechanical device called a microkeratome. LASIK procedures with the microkeratome have very few complications, but typically, when there is a complication, it is related to that small flap and how it was created. Dr. N. Timothy Peters has performed over 25,000 procedures and 11,000 were completed using the microkeratome with tremendous success.

However, as with any mechanical device, there is a remote possibility of an imperfect incision. These rare complications are usually corrected within a few months after the patient has healed.

The DaVinci femtosecond laser addresses the flap complication problem by using an extraordinarily fast and precise flap creation procedure.

The use of the DaVinci femtosecond laser gives you a safer and more precise vision correction procedure. Rather than having a blade cut the corneal flap, the DaVinci uses a fast, pulsed laser to create many microscopic bubbles just below the corneal surface.

The laser moves back and forth over the designated treatment area on the eye and creates a round, shallow area of these tiny bubbles. Then the surgeon can use a special instrument to gently lift that tissue and fold it back out of the way.

Due to the safety of the femtosecond laser, Clear Advantage only offers bladeless and PRK LASIK procedures.