Allegretto Wave Lasik

We are proud to offer Allegretto Wave Excimer Laser a faster, more accurate LASIK.

Wavelight, Inc., manufacturer of the Allegretto Wave™ laser, has built an extraordinary excimer laser. Their goal – to combine the best of German engineering and advanced optical design to make vision-correcting lasers with unparalleled precision and accuracy.

The Allegretto Wave™ is the fastest and most precise laser system for vision correction available in the U.S. The laser employs what is called "PerfectPulse Technology" to safely and accurately control every single laser pulse from start to finish.

The system is a newer and more efficient design than the VisX, LADARVision and Technolas lasers. As a result, advanced optical treatment methods are implemented. Wavelight’s Allegretto represents a new generation of refractive technology referred to as "High Performance Vision Correction," that allows patients to achieve exceptional visual results under all lighting situations, throughout the day and night.

The Allegretto Wave™ laser system offers the ability to treat the widest range of nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism of any FDA-approved excimer laser system, incorporating wavefront-optimized treatment principles.

Some of the features that help differentiate and distinguish the Allegretto Wave™ laser include:

  • Exceptionally stable laser engine, with stable performance over typical laser treatment time intervals
  • Extremely precise calibration
  • The only laser system to address the "cosine correction offset"
  • The only laser to take into account the starting curvature radius of the cornea being treated, with the intent to preserve the naturally aspheric ("prolate") corneal shape after treatment
  • Clinical data presented to FDA demonstrated that quality of night vision after treatment was better than night vision quality before treatment, with either glasses or contact lenses

Our Laser Beam and Tracking System

The Allegretto Wave™ system employs a flying small-spot laser beam that is 0.9 mm wide. Only a small, narrow beam permits precise corneal shaping. The Gaussian beam used also has a special shape. The tip is U-shaped, with smooth round corners, unlike other laser beam tips which are flat. The Gaussian beam shape aids in producing a smooth surface on the cornea. The Allegretto Wave™ laser operates at a pulse rate of 200 pulses per second, which is more than twice as fast as other "scanning spot" systems.

Because the Allegretto Wave™ treatment is so fast, the challenge of eye movement during LASIK is minimized. Still, the Allegretto’s incredibly fast and accurate eye tracking system monitors eye movement 200 times per second. It’s more than fast enough to follow, and compensate for movement of the eyes. Information about eye movement is continuously relayed to the laser system, and the system compensates for these movements, ensuring accurate placement of the laser beam. The infrared tracker tells the laser where the eye will be when the beam is sent. To the patient undergoing LASIK surgery, the Allegretto Wave™ tracker should add a great degree of confidence that any movement of your eyes during the procedure will not affect the beam’s aim.

The Treatment Zone

The Allegretto Wave™ can extend to a true 8.0mm treatment area, with a blend zone reaching to 9.0mm. That’s larger than any other excimer laser optic zone, making Allegretto Wave™ the choice for people with large pupils and those concerned with night vision.

Tracking, Laser Beams and the Optic Treatment Zone

One of the most important difference in lasers is the eye tracker. You may never be aware of it, but everyone’s eyes move about 100 times a second. These involuntary movements can interfere with the placement and accuracy of the laser beam. So a tracker has to be fast enough to register these movements, and it has to track them continuously. Tracker speeds range from 60 times per second to more than 4,000 times per second, depending on the type of tracker. If the tracker is at least as fast as the eye’s movement, the likelihood is greater that the laser beam will focus precisely on the area targeted for correction.

The second important thing to consider is the kind of laser beam used. Laser beams can range from 9mm to less than 1mm in width. It’s the width of the beam that defines it as either a broad-beam or small-spot beam laser. Broad-beam lasers can cover a large amount of surface quickly but may not be precise and gradual in the shaping of the cornea. A small-spot beam is less than 1mm in width and lets the surgeon do corneal shaping in fine, gradual, precise increments.

The third important thing to look for is the true optic treatment zone of the laser. The optic zone should match or exceed your pupil size in dim illumination so that at night, when your pupils expand, you still see through a fully corrected cornea. This will minimize any chance of glare, halos or starbursts at night. Don’t be misled by "blend zones." These are transition areas that gradually smooth out the edges of the laser treatment area to minimize night vision problems. But blend zones don’t enlarge the actual optic treatment zone. Make sure your pupil size is measured in low light and choose a laser with an optic zone that meets or exceeds that measurement.