Novartis’ division and eye care specialist Alcon, is introducing its latest advancement in its WaveLightrefractive portfolio Contoura Vision.
Alcon is participating in an annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) in Las Vegas, November 14-17, 2015.
The company is also presenting new research findings in glaucoma, cataract and refractive surgical procedures at AAO.
According to Novartis, Contoura Vision is a topography-guided LASIK treatment designed to provide surgeons the ability to perform more personalized laser procedures for patients with nearsightedness, or nearsightedness with astigmatism, based on the unique corneal topography of each eye.
In 2014, more than 630,000 LASIK procedures were performed in the US alone, Novartis has said.
“We are pleased to provide surgeons with a technology that has been shown to deliver visual acuity better than glasses or contact lenses for nearly one-third of patient eyes in a clinical trial setting,” said Franck Leveiller, Head of Research & Development for Alcon’s Surgical Franchise.
“Backed by FDA approval and very positive clinical trial outcomes, surgeons can now offer a topography-guided treatment option for refractive surgery patients in the US.”
As Novartis explains, th emulticenter clinical trial results demonstrate that the personalized topography-guided LASIK procedure Contoura Vision redefined the standard practice terminology of “quality of vision” which is visual acuity combined with visual symptoms, with more than 30% of eyes achieving better unaided visual acuity 12 months after surgery than with glasses or contact lenses prior to surgery.
In this US-based clinical trial, the company further says, 92.6% of eyes that received topography-guided LASIK treatment achieved 20/20 vision or better: specifically, 64.8% experienced 20/16 vision or better, and 34.4% could see 20/12.5 or better, 12 months after surgery.
The procedure also showed statistically significant reductions in some of the visual symptoms associated with LASIK, such as glare, light sensitivity, difficulty driving at night and difficulty while reading.