Ellex Medical | Ultra Q Reflex YAG laser
To see and treat
floaters in the
posterior vitre-
ous, the YAG's
laser has to be
coaxial with the
viewing optics.
Ellex came up
with an ingenious
design that
makes coaxial
illumination pos-
sible, allowing
the laser beam to focus on the posterior vitreous. You can use this
laser to safely treat floaters in the posterior vitreous as long as you
follow treatment guidelines and select the right patients (pseudopha-
kic individuals, for example). The procedure has resulted in a 70%
reduction in floaters with a single treatment and up to a 90% reduc-
tion with 2 treatments.
Surgeons and eye centers have to decide if eliminating floaters is a
medically necessary vitreolysis treatment (floaters caused by
cataract surgery, for example) for which they're reimbursed about
$300 or a cosmetic fix that patients would pay significantly more for.
It's a gray area, but also an exciting revenue opportunity for eye sur-
gery centers, which all need a YAG laser. Why not invest $45,000 for
one with this capability and pay for it by performing standard YAG
capsulotomy or figure out how to incorporate the premium cosmetic
floater reduction treatment into the mix?
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