2026-07-20
Essential Considerations Before Checking Smart LASIK Costs!
Learn about Smart LASIK, an advanced vision correction surgery that minimizes corneal damage, offers quick recovery, and corrects astigmatism with high precision. Understand the costs and crucial pre-operative checks.
With advancements in medical technology, surgeries that can correct vision even in previously challenging eye conditions have emerged.
As LASIK and LASEK surgery costs have become more affordable, reducing the financial burden of vision correction, it is now common to see people around us who have undergone vision correction surgeries like LASIK and LASEK.
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Recently, vision correction surgeries have been evolving to minimize corneal damage, reduce stress on the eyes, and accelerate recovery.
Traditional LASIK surgery involves creating a corneal flap, lifting it, and then using an excimer laser to correct myopia and astigmatism. LASEK surgery, on the other hand, involves removing corneal epithelial cells and then correcting vision with an excimer laser.
Smart LASIK is a recently emerging surgical method that addresses the drawbacks of these two surgeries while incorporating their advantages.
It does not create a corneal flap; instead, it uses a femtosecond laser to penetrate the corneal surface, then makes a minimal incision only in the corneal stroma, and removes the lenticule (a small piece of corneal tissue) to correct vision.
There is no need to worry about external impact due to a corneal flap, and it is characterized by less pain and very fast recovery, similar to LASIK.
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Since vision largely recovers the day after surgery, daily life can resume immediately. This offers the advantage of undergoing surgery without burden during weekends, even in situations where it's difficult to take a long leave from work.
Side effects such as dry eyes, keratoconus, corneal opacity, and myopia regression are also reduced. Even in cases of thin corneas, high myopia, or high astigmatism, surgery is possible depending on the eye's condition and cornea.
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Equipped with precise eye-tracking capabilities, it corrects subtle eye movements during surgery, allowing for more accurate and safer procedures than traditional LASIK. It is characterized by high surgical safety and completeness.
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Due to ocular cyclotorsion, the astigmatism axis in our eyes differs when standing versus lying down.
Correcting for ocular cyclotorsion between the astigmatism axis data measured while sitting before the examination and the astigmatism axis data when lying down during surgery is an essential aspect for patients with astigmatism.
Smart LASIK is equipped with technology to correct this ocular cyclotorsion, allowing for more precise astigmatism correction and thus higher quality vision.
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Smart LASIK's major advantage is its laser irradiation speed of 4Mhz, which is eight times faster than other laser devices.
This has ensured safety by reducing irradiation time and corneal thermal damage.
This speed is approximately 4000 times faster than the existing Amaris Red device (1050Hz).
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LASIK, which involves incising the corneal surface and creating a flap, can sometimes lead to dry eyes and other side effects after vision correction surgery.
Unlike general LASIK, Smart LASIK does not create a flap, which is characterized by reduced side effects and a shorter recovery period.
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For those considering Smart LASIK, there are essential factors to consider before surgery.
This includes the condition of the eyes before surgery. Since myopia continues to progress with growth, it should be considered after the age of 19, when eye growth stops. In particular, teenagers, who are often focused on their studies, may experience more rapid vision deterioration than adults, so it is crucial to undergo an examination for vision fluctuations over the past 6 months to 1 year before surgery.
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Furthermore, a significant number of patients undergoing Smart LASIK have high or extremely high myopia. In such cases, there is a higher likelihood of weak retinas and optic nerves, making a retinal examination essential.
If vision is severely poor and a large amount of corneal tissue needs to be removed during surgery, complete vision correction might be difficult with LASIK or LASEK.
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Also, if the residual corneal thickness is insufficient after examination, lens implantation surgery may be necessary instead of LASIK or LASEK.
Before a Smart LASIK examination, it is important to stop wearing soft contact lenses for at least one week, and astigmatism-correcting lenses and hard contact lenses for two weeks, to ensure a more accurate examination.
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During the examination process, the retinal area also needs to be checked for health. Due to pupillary dilation, your vision may appear somewhat blurry or you may experience glare, so it is advisable to refrain from driving and use public transportation or be accompanied by a guardian.
Smart LASIK uses the German Schwind ATOS device, famous for its Amaris equipment.
Despite its many advantages, one reason for hesitation might be the cost of Smart LASIK.
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Because it is a surgery that requires advanced technology and combines the advantages of LASIK and LASEK, the cost is generally higher than traditional vision correction surgeries.
While traditional LASIK and LASEK range from the mid to high 1 million KRW, with slight variations depending on the region and hospital, Smart LASIK is typically priced around 2.5 to 3 million KRW.
As with any surgery, additional options may arise depending on the individual's eye condition, so it is best to consult for an accurate Smart LASIK cost.
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Therefore, before considering Smart LASIK costs or discounted prices, it is crucial to choose the most suitable surgery for your eye condition. To do this, you should determine the surgical method through thorough consultation and precise examination at an ophthalmology clinic specializing in vision correction with extensive clinical experience.
Gangnam Smile Eye Clinic has university hospital-level examination equipment and ophthalmologists with extensive experience and expertise, including medical doctors and masters, so effective vision correction surgery can be performed even in cases requiring highly complex procedures.
4th and 6th Floors, Tongyeong Building, 1318-2 Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul