About Allegretto Wave™

We are proud to offer the area's first Allegretto Wave Excimer Laser in Western Massachusetts for faster, more precise LASIK.

Wavelight, Inc., manufacturer of the Allegretto Wave™ laser, set out to build an extraordinary excimer laser. Their goal was simple: combine the best of German engineering and advanced optical design to make vision-correcting lasers with unparalleled precision and accuracy. To be sure, this is an ambitious and lofty goal.

Drs. Alfred and Warren see certain similarities between the manufacturing of vision-correcting lasers and the manufacturing of automobiles. Excimer lasers, like the automobile, were first successfully developed and mass-produced in America. However, over the past several decades the auto industry has witnessed the emergence of Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen -- all German auto makers -- dominating the top end of the world market. They bring a distinct dedication to engineering, performance, design, safety and comfort.

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 design than the VisX, LADARVision and Technolas lasers. As a result, imperfections and design deficiencies in other systems were avoided, and advanced optical treatment methods (including wavefront optimization) were incorporated from the outset. 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, day and night.

The Allegretto Wave™ laser system received US FDA approval in October, 2003. It 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, affording very 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

The Allegretto Wave™ system employs a flying small-spot laser beam that is 0.9 mm wide. This is important because only a very small, narrow beam permits precise, gradual corneal shaping. The beam used, called a Gaussian beam, 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.

Our Eye Tracker

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, eye movement.

Furthermore, this is a closed-loop tracker. That means the information about eye movement is continuously relayed to the system, and the system continuously compensates for the 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.

Our 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.

Excimer Lasers - Aren't they all the same?

Many people believe "a laser is a laser." It's understandable, given that all LASIK systems use a laser beam to reshape corneas and help correct vision problems. But there are many differences in LASIK equipment.

Why Tracking Matters

The first, and perhaps most important, difference in lasers is the eye tracker. It tracks your eye movements so that even when your eye moves during surgery -and it will- the laser beam still makes precise contact with the cornea in exactly the right spot. You may never be aware of it, but everyone's eyes move about 100 times a second. These involuntary movements, called saccadic 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.

Trackers employ open-loop vs. closed-loop technologies. Open loop video systems like the VisX follow eye drift, but shut the laser off if the eye moves beyond limits set by the doctor. No video tracker is FDA approved to improve the accuracy of the laser during surgery. A closed-loop system like the Allegretto actually measures and compensates for eye movements. By locking-on to the eye, and staying locked on for the duration of the surgery, the laser can accurately predict where the eye will be at the exact moment the laser beam makes contact.

Why the Laser Beam Matters

The second important thing to consider is the kind of laser beam used. They're really not all the same. 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. Like a wide paintbrush, 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, on the other hand, is less than 1mm in width and lets the surgeon do corneal shaping in fine, gradual, precise increments.

Why the Optic Treatment Zone Matters

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.