Three refractive surgeons

Refractive Surgeons

Doctors: There are three prominent LASIK doctors in the San Jose area: Dr. Bindi, Dr. Hyver, and Dr. Furlong. They do not all use the same technology. For all laser LASIK, there are two lasers that make up the procedure. One is the femtosecond laser which creates the flap and the second is the excimer laser that corrects the problem (myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism). These are called lower ordered aberrations.

Both Dr. Bindi and Dr. Hyvrer prefers the Alcon Allegretto Wave Eye-Q 400hz laser. This laser is a wavefront-optimized laser, which uses wavefront-data to correct refractive errors. This type of system attempts to limit higher aberration errors. However, it does not attempt to correct the errors. This laser is overtaking the Nidek laser as the second most popular laser in the US. Dr. Bindi uses the most advanced intralase laser on the market, the iFS 150. Dr. Hyver uses the Ziemer LDV femtosecond laser.

The most popular laser system in the US is the Abbot Medical Supply (AMO) Visx S4 which currently controls 52% of the market share. This is also the laser of choice from Dr. Furlong. Dr. Manche of the Stanford Vision Center also prefers the Visx S4. The latest upgrade of the Visx S4 has the IR moniker. All Visx S4 has the capability of upgrading with IR. Visx S4 IR, and the WaveScan wavefront system when combined makes up the CustomVue. This is basically the trade name for the wavefront-guided LASIK system that AMO uses. CustomVue along with intralase FS or IFS femtosecond laser system is called  iLASIK.

We made appointment to see all three local doctors. We did not go see Dr. Manche. Dr. Manche is the opthamalogy professor at Stanford University. I would have preferred to see Dr. Manche as well. Unfortunately, he is the farthest away from us. His price is the highest and he also charges a $130 fee for the full wavescan pre-op appointment which could be rolled into the procedure if elected. He is one of, if not the top surgeon in the Bay Area and he charges accordingly.